Konstruktion c. 1920 - 1922

László Moholy-Nagy made this painting called "Konstruktion" with oil paint, maybe sometime in the 1920s. The color palette here is so contained, but with just enough variety to suggest a whole world of color. The shapes sit so matter-of-factly on the canvas. He's not hiding anything; the paint application is straightforward, and you can see the texture of the brushstrokes. It's as if he wants you to know exactly how this was made. He builds up the forms with blocks of color, letting them overlap just enough to create a sense of depth. The way the yellow and white rectangles intersect is particularly interesting; it's like he's playing with transparency and opacity at the same time. This reminds me of some of Josef Albers' work, where he explores the interaction of colors and shapes in a similar way. It's this idea that art is a language, and these artists are speaking to each other across time, each adding their own inflection and accent to the conversation.