July 21 through November 4, 2007
At The Busch-Reisinger Museum (more about the Busch-Reisinger Museum)

László Moholy-Nagy, Light Prop for an Electric Stage, 1929–30. Exhibition replica, constructed in 2006, through the courtesy of Hattula Moholy-Nagy. Metal, plastics, glass, paint, and wood, with electric motor, 151 x 70 x 70 cm. Busch-Reisinger Museum, Hildegard von Gontard Bequest Fund, 2007.105. Photo: Photographic Services © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

László Moholy-Nagy’s Light Prop for an Electric Stage has long been one of the masterpieces in the Busch-Reisinger Museum’s collection. This much restored and repaired kinetic sculpture by one of the 20th century’s most restlessly experimental and influential artists is permanently on view but can be set in motion only very occasionally. This exhibition presents a newly acquired, fully functioning replica of this pioneering work, displayed in a darkened gallery with spotlighting that creates a dramatic play of shadows, translucencies, transparencies, and reflections. The artist’s witty, dynamic film of the sculpture, Light Play: Black White Gray (1930), is also being shown.

Organized by Peter Nisbet, Daimler-Benz Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum.

Press Release