Raub der Sabinerin

Photoplastics. The dynamic tension between two groups of figures—László Moholy-Nagy’s interpretation of the story of the rape of the Sabine women—is the focus of this piece. While the statuesque flapper dances with her nearly invisible partner, a group of strongmen struggle to win her over in a tug of war. Women’s rights became an increasingly polarized issue in postwar Germany, pitting the “new woman” against the traditional wife and mother. At a time of concern over repopulating the decimated country, women’s increased sexual freedom was viewed with anxiety. Rising unemployment—particularly in industry—fueled a backlash against female employees, and families in which both the husband and wife worked outside the home were subject to criticism. However, Moholy’s Sabine appears to be able to take care of herself. The legacy of Hungarian artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy is among the most cherished in the lineage of photographic art, and he can be defined as a visionary whose radical experiments with photography entirely re-imagined the possibilities for the medium. Working in the early 20th century when photography was not considered a form of high art, Moholy-Nagy actively sought to break down boundaries and find new languages of photographic discourse. In doing so, he left behind an oeuvre of visual ideas that have provided artistic license to a century’s worth of photographers to experiment boldly beyond the conventional definitions of what photography is expected to be. Edition: 1 of 1