About this artwork
This is the first of three works painted on a new type of aluminium called silberit, hence the title. From the mid-1920s, Moholy-Nagy abandoned traditional easel painting in favour of experimentation with new industrial materials, such as aluminium, plastic and celluloid. Aluminium had associations with new technology and also satisfied Moholy-Nagy's desire to, as he put it, 'paint with light', since the material was reflective. Painting on a highly reflective surface gave the impression that the colour was floating in front of the material to which it is applied.
Updated before 2020
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artist:László Moholy-Nagy (1895 - 1946) Hungarian
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title:Sil I
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date created:1933
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materials:Oil and incised lines on silberit
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measurements:50.00 x 20.00 cm; Framed: 71.60 x 41.30 x 8.30 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1977
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accession number:GMA 1663
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gallery:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
László Moholy-Nagy
László Moholy-Nagy
Moholy-Nagy was born in Hungary. He studied law at Budapest University and took up art in 1917, while recovering from a wound he received in the First World War. Entirely self-taught, Moholy-Nagy had a methodical and rational approach to art. From 1923 to 1928 he taught at the Bauhaus in Germany at...