GARDE PHOTOGRAPHY of LUCIA MOHOLY Eleanor
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ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: NEW WOMANHOOD AND THE BAUHAUS: THE AVANT- GARDE PHOTOGRAPHY OF LUCIA MOHOLY Eleanor Janet Chamberlain-Stoltzfus, Doctor of Philosophy, 2019 Dissertation directed by: Professor Steven Mansbach Department of Art History and Archaeology During the years 1922–1928, Lucia Moholy operated as an independent photographer at the Bauhaus School in Germany, capturing images of students’ and masters’ art objects, inventively recording the defining architectural elements of the school, and pursuing her own experiments in portraits and photograms. Immersed in the dynamic, radical environment of the Bauhaus, Moholy explored the potential for modernist representative photography. From images capturing the avant-garde building designs of the Bauhaus to portraits sensitively exploring the phenomenon of the New Woman, Moholy’s oeuvre demonstrates her innovative engagement with contemporary artistic and cultural concerns. This dissertation seeks to reclaim Moholy’s place as the foundational figure for photography at the Bauhaus and argues for the radicality and unrestrained modernity of her artistic output. Given the continued effacement of Lucia Moholy’s significant contribution to German modernism, this dissertation serves as a historiographical correction. Asserting Moholy’s central importance to the development of a photographic discipline at the Bauhaus, I demonstrate her impact as a pioneering female professional photographer in a field dominated by men. Moholy’s portraits and architectural photographs serve as testament to her unique experience of the Bauhaus and celebrate both the institution’s and her own modernity, and the free lifestyle each advanced. For younger female photographers who would matriculate at the Bauhaus, Moholy served as a powerful exemplar for considering the world through a multivalent female perspective, unrestricted by the domineering masculinity of the Bauhaus. In reconsidering Moholy’s oeuvre, I also situate her contextually within the German avant-garde and consider the individual interpretations of New Womanhood by Moholy and her contemporaries. Moholy’s photographs possess a rich multiplicity of meaning, revealing layers upon layers. They are simultaneously experimental portraits of people and buildings, grounded in Weimar avant-garde expression, and memorializations that build a concrete history and contribute to the Weimar cultural archive. Arguing for Moholy’s innovation, her engagement with avant-garde trends in 1920s Europe, and her creation of a representational modernism, this dissertation interrupts the canon of Modernist scholarship and prompts a rethinking of Lucia Moholy’s contribution to photographic experimentation at the Bauhaus. NEW WOMANHOOD AND THE BAUHAUS: THE AVANT-GARDE PHOTOGRAPHY OF LUCIA MOHOLY by Eleanor Janet Chamberlain-Stoltzfus Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2019 Advisory Committee: Professor Steven Mansbach, Chair Professor Joshua Shannon Professor Jordana Moore Saggese Professor Emerita Renée Ater Professor Jeffrey Herf © 2019 Eleanor J. Chamberlain-Stoltzfus For my parents. ii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I must thank my Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Steven Mansbach, for his guidance and support throughout this project. His wisdom, constructive criticism, and perspective have been decisive for the success of this dissertation, and I am indebted to him for his unwavering support across multiple years and continents, and in the face of unforeseen obstacles. Special thanks are also due to the University of Maryland, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, and the Cosmos Club Foundation for providing the necessary funding to complete the research for this project. In addition, I am grateful to the librarians and archivists at the Fotostiftung Schweiz, the Kunstbibliothek at the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, the Bauhaus Archiv, and the National Portrait Gallery in London for their assistance in tracking down records, documents, and photographs on my behalf. For their years of support and advice, I am immeasurably grateful to my parents. It is simply not possible to articulate my appreciation for the innumerable ways in which they have encouraged, assisted, and supported me throughout my Ph.D. studies. Finally, and most importantly, thank you to my husband, Daniel, whose enthusiasm, positivity, and resourcefulness have fortified my resolve countless times. His dedication to my work has been the backbone of this dissertation, and my gratitude to him is boundless. iii Table of Contents Dedication………………………………………………………………………………….. ii Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………………. iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………….. iv List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………… v Introduction………………………………………………………………………………… 1 Chapter One: Architectural Modernism and the Dessau Bauhaus Photographs………….. 29 Chapter Two: New Womanhood in Weimar Germany………………………………….. 104 Chapter Three: The Weimar Portraits…………………………………………………… 152 Chapter Four: A Partnership between Equals: Lucia Moholy and László Moholy-Nagy. 207 Chapter Five: Life after the Bauhaus……………………………………………………. 232 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….. 286 Figures…………………………………………………………………………………… 291 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………... 442 iv List of Figures Figure 1. Lucia Moholy, Bauhaus Dessau, Werkstattgebäude von Südwesten (Workshop Building, from the Southwest), 1925–26. Gelatin silver print, 14.3 x 21.4 cm, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur. Figure 2. Otto Dix, Scene II (Murder), 1922. Watercolor on paper, 65 x 50 cm, private collection. Figure 3. Otto Dix, Lustmord, 1922. Drypoint in black on ivory wove paper, 27.5 x 38 cm, Art Institute of Chicago. Figure 4. Otto Dix, Der Lustmörder (Selbstporträt) (The Sex Murderer, Self Portrait), 1920. Oil on canvas, dimensions and location unknown. Figure 5. George Grosz, John der Frauenmörder (John the Murderer of Women), 1918. Oil on canvas, 86.5 x 81.2 cm, Hamburger Kunsthalle. Figure 6. Hans Bellmer, La poupeé (The Doll), 1936. Gelatin silver print, 11.7 x 7.6 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York. Figure 7. Lucia Moholy, Bauhausgebäude Dessau: Werkstattfassade (Bauhaus Building Dessau: Workshop Façade), 1925–26. Gelatin silver print, 35 x 27.5 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York. Figure 8. Lucia Moholy, Werkstattflügel von Nordwesten (Workshop Wing from the Northwest), 1926. Gelatin silver print, 13.5 x 22.9 cm, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur. Figure 9. Lucia Moholy, Eingangshof von Südwesten (Entrance Courtyard from the Southwest), 1925–26. Gelatin silver print, 21.7 x 16.5 cm, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur. Figure 10. Lucia Moholy, Bauhaus Meisterhaus, Dessau (Bauhaus Masters’ Housing, Dessau), 1926. Gelatin silver print, 15.2 x 20.9 cm, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur. Figure 11. Lucia Moholy, Werkstattflugel von Nordosten (Workshop Wing from the Northeast), 1925–26. Gelatin silver print, 20.7 x 15.8 cm, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum. Figure 12. Lucia Moholy, Bauhausgebäude Dessau: Fachschulecke (Bauhaus Building, Dessau: Corner of the Technical School), 1925–26. Gelatin silver print, 5.7 x 7/6 cm (printed later), Harvard Art Museums/Busch- Reisinger Museum. v Figure 13. Lucia Moholy, Bauhausgebäude Dessau: Balkon am Atelierhaus (Bauhaus Building Dessau: Studio Balcony, 1926. Gelatin silver print, 16.5 x 12.3 cm, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum. Figure 14. Lucia Moholy, Flur mit Durchblick auf Werkstattflügel (Hallway with View to the Workshop Wing), 1926. Gelatin silver print, 22.3 x 16.3 cm, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur. Figure 15. Lucia Moholy, Brücke Flür (Bridge Hallway), 1925–26. Gelatin silver print, 26.7 x 19.7 cm, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur. Figure 16. Photothek, Studio Flügel und Brücke (Studio Hallway and Bridge), 1925– 26. Gelatin silver print, 12 x 16.5 cm, Harvard Art Museums/Busch- Reisinger Museum. Figure 17. Photothek, Bauhausgebäude Dessau: Gesamtansicht von Nordosten kurz vor der Fertigstellung (Bauhaus Building, Dessau: View from Northeast during Construction), 1926. Gelatin silver print, 11.9 x 16.5 cm, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum. Figure 18. Lucia Moholy, Bauhausgebäude Dessau von Nordosten, 1926. Gelatin silver print, 10.2 x 21 cm, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum. Figure 19. Erich Consemüller, Vorraum mit Türen zum Auditorium (Vestibule with Doors to the Auditorium), 1926–30. Gelatin silver print, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum. Figure 20. Erich Consemüller, Fachschule Klassenzimmer mit Lehrer-Schränken und flachen Dateien für Zeichnungen (Technical School Classroom with Teachers’ Closets and Flat Files for Drawings), 1925–26. Gelatin silver print, 17.8 x 24cm, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum. Figure 21. Lucia Moholy, Salon von Lucia und László Moholy-Nagys Haus (Drawing Room of Lucia and László Moholy-Nagy’s House), 1925–26. Gelatin silver print, 16.6 x 22.1 cm, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum. Figure 22. Lyonel Feininger, Untitled (Bauhaus, Dessau), 1929. Gelatin silver print, 17.9 x 23.8 cm, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum. Figure 23. Lyonel Feininger, Bauhaus (Dessau), 1929. Gelatin silver print, 17.9 x 24cm, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum. Figure 24. Lyonel Feininger, Untitled (Bauhaus, Dessau, 1929), 1929. Gelatin silver print, 17.7 x 23.8 cm, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum. vi Figure 25. Erich Mendelsohn, Einstein Tower, Front