19 1921

László Moholy-Nagy made this painting, “19”, with oil on canvas, though the exact date remains unknown. Just imagine him, squinting at the canvas, armed with a brush, probably a little worn, trying to capture the energy of the moment. You see how he carefully balanced those diagonals with the weight of the black bar? It’s like he’s building a precarious structure, a visual puzzle that teases the eye. The colors, so bold and direct—red, blue, yellow—pop against that neutral background. It makes me wonder if he was thinking about the Bauhaus, where he taught, and its emphasis on primary colors and geometric forms. And that number, "19," floating in the blue triangle, is it a reference to something personal? A date, an address, a secret code? Whatever it is, it adds an extra layer of mystery to the whole thing.