László Moholy-Nagy documents from Levente Nagy's collection

In 2015 and within the framework of the Art Treasure Depository Program, Magyar Nemzeti Bank(the central bank of Hungary) purchased from Levente Nagy, the artist’s nephew, a unique documentary collection pertaining to László Moholy-Nagy’s oeuvre. Following a mutual agreement with the bank and the owner, the entire collection was first transferred to the Documentation Department of the Museum of Fine Arts and then to the Archive and Documentation Center of the Museum of Fine Arts – Central European Research Institute for Art History. Throughout his life, Levente Nagy consistently collected all the letters, books, exhibition invitations, catalogues, and photographs that he could uncover relating to his uncle’s oeuvre and works. The collection includes correspondence between family members, original publications, and journals from the interwar decades, as well as catalogues of László Moholy-Nagy's solo exhibitions. Lucia Moholy-Nagy’s photographs of the performances of Madame Butterfly and the Tales of Hoffmann, presented at the Berlin Krolloper—for which László Moholy-Nagy designed the stage sets in the early 1930s—are prominent pieces of the collection. Levente Nagy also considered it important for the archive to contain literature on the artist’s friends, colleagues, and the places where the artist worked (such as the Bauhaus), as well as the art forms and movements that influenced his work. Thanks to his dedicated collection efforts, the compiled material not only provides insight into László Moholy-Nagy’s work and personal relationships, but also offers a comprehensive and coherent overview of the avant-garde art and trends of the interwar period.

/Judit Galácz/