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©
The Moholy-Nagy Foundation, VEGAP, Madrid
László Moholy-Nagy

Large Railway Painting

1920
Oil on canvas.
100 x 77 cm
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
Inv. no.
675
(
1974.41
)
ROOM 43
Level 1
Permanent Collection
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Postpop rooms Rodin room
30 18th and 19th Centuries. Transatlantic Relations 31 19th Century. American Landscape and Environmental Awareness 32 19th Century. American Landscape and Urban Life 33 Recovering the ligth. Restoration of Waterloo Bridge, by André Derain 34 20th Century. Expressionist Landscapes 35 20th Century. Expressionist Portraits 36 20th Century. The Language of the Body 37 20th Century. Urban unrest 38 20th Century. Flowers 39 20th Century. Pioneers of abstraction 40 20th Century. Popular flavor 41 20th Century. The Cubist Tradition I 42 20th Century. The Cubist Tradition II 43 20th Century. Abstract Utopias 44 20th Century. Dada and Surrealism 45 20th Century. Interwar Realisms 46 20th Century. American Abstraction I 48 20th Century. Post-ward American Art 49 20th Century. Post-ward European Figurative Art 50 20th Century. Informalisms 51 20th Century. Homo Ludens 52 20th Century. Pop Art 53 Postpop rooms 54 Postpop rooms 55 Postpop rooms 56 Postpop rooms Rodin Exhibition room

During his youth, the Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy was driven by his conviction that art could influence life, everyday affairs and the prevailing social structures to join the coalition of artists grouped around the radical magazine MA, published in Budapest between 1916 and 1919 by Lajos Kassák, which advocated a link between art and political activity. While serving in the Austro-Hungarian army during the Great War, in which he was wounded, he made numerous drawings inspired by military scenes and in 1919 had to seek exile in Germany for political reasons.

In the present painting in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, which was executed shortly after he arrived in Berlin and three years before he joined the Bauhaus as a teacher, the artist already displays his preference for abstract language and the influence of both Dadaism and Constructivism can be seen in his work. Moholy-Nagy firmly believed that art should adapt to the reality of the times and provide a response to new technological breakthroughs; the language of Russian Constructivism was therefore of use to him in achieving his aspirations. “The reality of our century is technology: the invention, construction and maintenance of machines, ” he wrote.

As in The Great Wheel dating from the same period, Large Railway Painting adopts a schematic composition of interpenetrating planes in which letters and geometric shapes are mixed. As may be deduced from the title, the work recreates the railway world through posts, conductor wires, and level crossing barriers, among other elements. The letter “E” refers to the word Eisenbahn, meaning railway in German.

Paloma Alarcó

20th Century20th Century - European painting. Pioneers of abstractionPaintingOilcanvas
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Factory in the Moonlight. Fábrica a la luz de la luna, 1898
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Inventions

The guiding thread of this survey is that of inventions,frequently not the principal subject of the painting: on the contrary, they are secondary objects that illustrate the numerous inventions that have made our lives easier and more comfortable.

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Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Catalogue  V1 (Spanish)

Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Catalogue V1 (Spanish)

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Poster Richard Estes. Telephone Booths, 1967

Poster Richard Estes. Telephone Booths, 1967

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Catalogue Hyperreal. The art of trompe l'oeil (Spanish)

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Large Railway Painting. Gran pintura del ferrocarril, 1920
Large Railway Painting
László Moholy-Nagy

©

The Moholy-Nagy Foundation, VEGAP, Madrid

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The exploitation rights of the images correspond to the Fundacion Coleccion Thyssen-Bornemisza, F.S.P. The Fundación authorizes the downloading of high-resolution images from its website for private use, use for educational and research purposes and non-commercial uses.

However, photographed works are protected by copyright. Therefore, regardless of the terms of use of the images set out below by the Foundation, it will be necessary to obtain a license from VEGAP (www.vegap.es), or from the corresponding collective management organization in the country where the work is going to be used or, where appropriate, from the holder of their rights in order to reproduce or exploit the work.

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Large Railway Painting. Gran pintura del ferrocarril, 1920
Large Railway Painting
László Moholy-Nagy

©

The Moholy-Nagy Foundation, VEGAP, Madrid

Terms of Use

The Photo Library of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza offers sale and rental service of photographic material of all the works on its Permanent Collection.

To request images or permits for commercial use in academic or research publications, that is, catalogues of other institutions, monographs and other specialized publications, you should contact the Museum's Photo Library by email at the e-mail @email.

To request images or permits for other commercial or advertising uses (general publications, merchandising, exhibitions, audio-visual works, web pages, etc.), you should contact the Museum's Commercial Archive by email at the e-mail @email.

The Photo Library and the Museum's Commercial Archive manage the worldwide distribution of images of the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza works, as well as their reproduction rights. The applicable rates are calculated based on the nature and proposed use of the images, as well as the availability of the requested image.

Requests for scans or new photographs will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Once approved, an additional fee will apply. Re-photographing a work will require a minimum of six weeks to complete.

However, photographed works are protected by copyright. Therefore, regardless of the terms of use of the photographs set out below by the Foundation, it will be necessary to obtain a license from  VEGAP (Visual Entidad de Gestión de Artistas Plásticos www.vegap.es) or from the corresponding collective management organizations in the country where the work is going to be used or, where appropriate, from the holder of their rights in order to reproduce or exploit the work.

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