Lucia Moholy Three pieces from a tea service by Marianne Brandt, 1924

In contrast to László Moholy-Nagy, who was an autodidact, his wife Lucia Moholy started with a photographic training. Her aim was to achieve an analysis of reality that was both subtle and unspectacular, inspired by the New Objectivity. The way in which she dramatized Marianne Brandt’s 1924 tea set, for example, creates a modest, factual impression; a typical feature is the way in which the objects are presented on a glass slab in front of a slightly rumpled and blurred background. This makes the design of the objects appear all the more precise. Like her photographs of Bauhaus buildings and products, her fascinating portraits of Bauhaus members – Lou Scheper in this case – have continued to shape the image of the Bauhaus down to the present day.