Special effects for the H.G. Wells - A. Korda film, Things to Come 1936

This is a photograph by László Moholy-Nagy, taken in Britain, for the 1936 film, Things to Come. The image presents us with miniature modernist buildings and hovering abstract shapes, all designed to give the impression of a city of the future. Moholy-Nagy was part of a generation of European artists who believed that modern art had a social purpose. These artists wanted to design a better world. He had taught at the Bauhaus, the famous German school of design, and in 1937 he brought his radical vision to London, where he designed window displays and advertising before establishing the New Bauhaus school in Chicago. The buildings in this photograph resemble the kinds of utopian architecture that were being proposed at the time, but the image is also reminiscent of abstract art. Understanding the image requires us to look at the history of art education and the changing status of design in the 1930s.