Laszlo Moholy-Nagy Untitled Photogram – Art Blart

Exhibition dates: 9th November 2012 – 17th February 2013

Fritz Winter (German, 1905-1976)
K 35
1934
Oil on paper on canvas
110 x 75cm
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen Pinakothek der Moderne, München
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012

The glorious paintings of Fritz Winter show a beautiful synergy with the abstract photographs. The relationship between painting and photography has always been a symbiotic one, a close mutualist relationship that has benefited both art forms. This is fully evidenced in this outstanding posting, where I have tried to sequence the artworks to reflect the nature of their individuality and their interdependence. Great blessings on the curators that assembled this exhibition: an inspired concept!

Dr Marcus Bunyan

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Many thankx to the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

Alvin Langdon Coburn (American, 1882-1966)
Vortograph
1917 (1962)
Gelatin silver print
30.6 x 25.5cm
George Eastman House, Rochester, New York
© Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film

Francis Bruguière (American, 1879-1945)
Abstract Study
c. 1926
Gelatin silver print
24.3 x 19.3cm
George Eastman House, Rochester, New York
© Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film

Fritz Winter (German, 1905-1976)
Einfallendes Licht II (Incident Light II)
1935
Oil on paper on canvas
44.2 x 33.4cm
Konrad Knöpfel-Stiftung Fritz Winter im Kunstmuseum Stuttgart
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012

In his lesser known early work, the German painter Fritz Winter (1905-1976) made an obsessive analysis of the aesthetic aspects of light. As a Bauhaus student he was influenced by the international avant-garde’s boundless euphoria for light between Expressionism and Constructivism. The light of large cities with headlights, cinemas and illuminated advertisements gave a new impulse to aesthetics; x-rays, radioactivity and microphotography made it possible to perceive previously unknown sources of energy and natural phenomena.

In his pictures of light beams and crystals created in 1934-1936, Winter devoted himself with virtuosity to aspects such as the reflection, radiation and refraction of light. His virtually monochrome paintings incorporate crystal shapes and bundles of rays; they focus on the earth’s interior and the infinite expanse of the cosmos; they block the pictorial space with dark grids or lend it a glass-like transparency.

For the first time, 25 Licht-Bilder by Fritz Winter will be juxtaposed with an international selection of 40 of the earliest abstract photographs in history of art. In the 1910s to 1930s artists experimented with the most varied of photographic techniques to ascertain the genuine qualities of photography beyond the merely representative. The New Vision in photography and abstract painting become immediately obvious through the display of vintage prints and paintings side by side.

The exhibition combines 25 exceptional paintings by Fritz Winter from German museums and private collections as well as 40 international lenders of photographic works including Centre Pompidou, Paris, George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Neue Galerie Kassel, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Ann and Jürgen Wilde Foundation, Munich and Kunstmuseum Stuttgart.

Press release from the Pinakothek der Moderne website

Fritz Winter (German, 1905-1976)
Stufungen (Gradations)
1934
Oil on paper on canvas
100.5 x 75.5cm
Konrad Knöpfel-Stiftung Fritz Winter im Kunstmuseum Stuttgart
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012

Alfred Ehrhardt (German, 1901-1984)
Adular, Maderanertal, Schweiz
1938-1939
Gelatin silver print
49.5 x 30cm
Stiftung Ann und Jürgen Wilde, Pinakothek der Moderne, München
© Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung
© Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film

Fritz Winter (German, 1905-1976)
Weiß in Schwarz (White in Black)
1934
Oil on paper on canvas
100.5 x 75.5cm
Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, Neue Galerie
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012

Fritz Winter (German, 1905-1976)
Licht, A 1
1934
Oil on paper on canvas
59 x 45cm
Private Collection
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (Hungarian, 1895-1946)
Untitled (Photogram)
1925
Gelatin silver print
23.7 x 17.8cm
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Fotografische Sammlung
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012 Museum Folkwang, Essen, Fotografische Sammlung
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012

Alfred Ehrhardt (German, 1901-1984)
Beryll, Minas Geraes, Brasilien
1938/1939
Gelatin silver print
49.7 x 29.9cm
Stiftung Ann und Jürgen Wilde, Pinakothek der Moderne, München
© bpk, Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung
© Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film

Pinakothek Der Moderne
Barer Strasse 40
Munich

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Thursday 10am – 8pm

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