Masterworks of Modern Photography 1900-1940
The Thomas Walther Collection at The Museum of Modern Art, New York
25.04–01.08.2021

The exhibition is dedicated to Thomas Walther’s photographic collection, acquired in 2001 by the New York MoMA. The German collector, currently based in Zurich, has collected hundreds of photographs taken during the years between the two World Wars: a period of great creative experimentation during which numerous resources of this expressive medium were investigated. The exhibition also includes iconic photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Stieglitz, Berenice Abbott, El Lissitzky, Lucia Moholy and Paul Strand, exhibited alongside other less known but equally significant artists.
- MASI LAC
Piazza Bernardino Luini 6, 6900 Lugano
Tue / Wed / Fri: 10 am – 5 pm
Thurs: 10 am – 7 pm
Sat: 10 am – 6 pm
Sun / Mon / Public Holidays: closedCurated by Francesca Benini
Press conference
Friday October 23th,
11 amOpening
Saturday October 25th,
6 pmFull Price: CHF 15.–/Reduced Price: CHF 12.–
Details
- Kate Steinitz, American, Backstroke, 1930, gelatin silver print, 10 1/2 x 13 7/16"" (26.6 x 34.1 cm), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Thomas Walther Collection, gift of Thomas Walther © The Steinitz-Berg Family Art Collection, 1930, digital image © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Herbert Bayer, Humanly Impossible, 1932, gelatin silver print, 15 5/16 x 11 9/16"" (38.9 x 29.3 cm), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Thomas Walther Collection, acquired through the generosity of Howard Stein © 2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, digital image © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Berenice Abbott, Fifth Avenue, Nos. 4, 6, 8, Manhattan, March 20, 1936, gelatin silver print, 15 3/16 x 19 1/2"" (38.6 x 49.5 cm), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Thomas Walther Collection, gift of Mr. Robert C. Weinberg, by exchange © 2021 Estate of Berenice Abbott, digital image © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Gertrud Arndt, At the Masters' Houses, 1929–30, gelatin silver print, 8 7/8 x 6 1/4"" (22.6 x 15.8 cm), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Thomas Walther Collection, gift of Thomas Walther © 2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, digital image © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- André Kertész, Mondrian's Glasses and Pipe, 1926, gelatin silver print, 3 1/8 x 3 11/16"" (7.9 x 9.3 cm), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Thomas Walther Collection, Grace M. Mayer Fund © Estate of André Kertész, digital image © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Albert Renger-Patzsch, Pitmen’s houses in Essen, Stoppenberg, 1929, gelatin silver print, 10 3/4 x 14 13/16"" (27.3 x 37.6 cm), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Thomas Walther Collection, gift of James Thrall Soby, by exchange © 2021 / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Germany, digital image © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art, New York