Art Institute of Chicago

Nuclear I, CH

László Moholy-Nagy · 1945

Provenance

Ownership history

The artist, sold to Mary and Leigh Block, 1945 [written account from Leigh Block, copy in curatorial object file]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 27, 1947.

Recorded by Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

Exhibition history

Art Institute of Chicago, Society for Contemporary American Art: Moholy Nagy Memorial Exhibition, Sept. 18–Oct. 26, 1947, cat. 15 (as Nuclear I, CH, 1946).
Springfield, Illinois State Museum, Painters and Sculptors in Illinois, 1820–1945, Oct. 30–Dec. 12, 1971, cat. 49; Champaign, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Feb. 6–27, 1972; Peoria, Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences, Mar. 10–Apr. 16, 1972; Chicago Historical Society, Apr. 26–June 24, 1972 (as Nuclear I, CH, 1946).
Springfield, Illinois State Museum, Moholy–Nagy: A New Vision of Chicago, Oct. 20, 1990–Jan. 6, 1991, cat, 78; Chicago, State of Illinois Art Gallery, Jan. 14–Mar. 8, 1991 (as Nuclear I, CH , 1946).
Essen, Museum Folkwang, Bauhaus: Dessau, Chicago, New York, Aug. 12-Nov. 12, 2000, cat. 205 (as Nuclear I, CH, 1946).
London, Tate Modern, Albers and Moholy-Nagy: From Bauhaus to the New World, Mar. 9-June 4, 2006, pl. 111; Kunsthalle Bielefeld, June 15-Oct. 15, 2006; New York, Whitney Museum of Ameican Art, Nov. 2, 2006-January 21, 2007.
Frankfurt, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: Retrospective, Oct. 8, 2009-Feb. 7, 2010, no cat. no.
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Moholy-Nagy: Future/Present, May 6–Sept. 27, 2016, cat. 287; Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 2, 2016–Jan. 3, 2017; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Feb. 12–June 18, 2017.
Paris, Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, The Atomic Age, Oct. 11, 2024-Feb. 9, 2025, no cat. no.

Literature

Published references

Katherine Kuh and Carl O. Schniewind, L. Moholy-Nagy: An Exhibition Sponsored by the Society for Contemporary American Art, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1947), 13, cat. 15 (as Nuclear I, CH, 1946).
Terry Shure, curator, Mohloy–Nagy: A New Vision of Chicago, exh. cat. (Springfield: University of Illinois Press and the Illinois State Museum, 1990), 25, 97, cat. 78, 118 (as Nuclear I, CH, 1946).
Esther Sparks and Betty Madden, Painters and Sculptors in Illinois, 1820–1945, exh. cat. (Chicago: Illinois State Museum, 1971), n.p., cat. 49 (ill.) (as Nuclear I, CH, 1946).
Tim Garvey, “László Moholy-Nagy and Atomic Ambivalence in Postwar Chicago,” in American Art, 14, no. 3 (Autumn 2000), 23-25, 26 (color ill.), 30, 32-37.
Margarita Tupitsyn and Georg-W. Költzsch, Bauhaus: Dessau, Chicago, New York, exh. cat. (Köln: DuMont, 2000), 249, cat. 205 (color Ill.), 319 (as Nuclear I, CH, 1946).
Achim Borchardt-Hume, ed., Albers and Moholy-Nagy: From the Bauhaus to the New World, exh. cat. (London: Tate, 2006), 77, fig. 24 (color ill.), 144, 145, pl. 111 (color ill.), 185.
Ingrid Pfeiffer and Max Hollein, eds., László Moholy-Magy Retrospective, exh. cat. (Munich: New York: Prestel; Frankfurt: Schirn Kunstalle, 2009), 160 (color ill.), 182.
Matthew S. Witkovsky, Carol S. Eliel, and Karole P.B. Vail, eds., Moholy-Nagy: Future/Present. exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2016), 244, cat. 287 (color ill.), 264.
Maria Stavrinaki and Julia Garimorth, L'Âge Atomique: Les artistes à l'épreuve de l'histoire (The Atomic Age: Artists put to the test by history), exh. cat. (Paris: Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, 2024), 138 (color ill.), 333.

Comparables