Tina Modotti

(Italian, 1896–1942)

Tina Modotti was an Italian-born photographer known for her skillful use of composition and shadow. Her most famous images captured the milieu of Mexico City between World War I and World War II, including portraits of artists and intellectuals such as Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera. “What is important is to distinguish between good and bad photography,” she once explained. “By good is meant that photography which accepts all the limitations inherent in photographic technique and takes advantage of the possibilities and characteristics the medium offers. By bad photography is mean that which is done, one may say, with a kind of inferiority complex, with no appreciation of what photography itself offers.” Born Assunta Adelaide Luigia Modotti Mondini on August 16, 1896 in Udine, Italy, she emigrated to the United States in 1913 to live with her father in San Francisco. Modotti became involved in acting in Los Angeles during the early 1920s, and entered the circles of several artists including her future lover the photographer Edward Weston. In 1923, Modotti and Weston set out for Mexico City, established a photography studio upon arriving, and subsequently joined the Communist Party. Though Weston later returned to his wife in California, Modotti stayed in Mexico and became more involved in radical politics before being exiled in 1931. She stopped producing photographs after this time and in 1939 returned to Mexico under a false name. The artist died on January 4, 1942 in Mexico City, Mexico. Today, Modotti’s works are held in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among others.

Tina Modotti Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Tina Modotti (386 results)
Carved Door, c. 1925, 1925

Tina Modotti

Carved Door, c. 1925, 1925

Sale Date: February 22, 2024

Auction Closed

Fox Skins on Sticks, 1929

Tina Modotti

Fox Skins on Sticks, 1929

Sale Date: October 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Selected Puppet Studies from 'The Hairy Ape', 1929

Tina Modotti

Selected Puppet Studies from 'The Hairy Ape', 1929

Sale Date: October 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Woman of Tehuantepec, Mexico, 1929

Tina Modotti

Woman of Tehuantepec, Mexico, 1929

Sale Date: October 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Maguey), 1926

Tina Modotti

Untitled (Maguey), 1926

Sale Date: December 1, 2023

Auction Closed

William Spratling, 1929

Tina Modotti

William Spratling, 1929

Sale Date: December 6, 2023

Auction Closed

La téchnica (Mella's Typewriter), 1928

Tina Modotti

La téchnica (Mella's Typewriter), 1928

Sale Date: November 16, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Mexico), 1920

Tina Modotti

Untitled (Mexico), 1920

Sale Date: October 17, 2023

Auction Closed

Maria Marin de Orozco (Head Turned to the..., 1925

Tina Modotti

Maria Marin de Orozco (Head Turned to the..., 1925

Sale Date: July 13, 2023

Auction Closed

Maria Marin de Orozco (Head Bowed to Left),..., 1925

Tina Modotti

Maria Marin de Orozco (Head Bowed to Left),..., 1925

Sale Date: July 13, 2023

Auction Closed

El que Quiera Comer que Trabaje

Tina Modotti

El que Quiera Comer que Trabaje

Sale Date: June 1, 2023

Auction Closed

Baile en Tehuantepec, 1930

Tina Modotti

Baile en Tehuantepec, 1930

Sale Date: June 1, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Protest Rally), 1928

Tina Modotti

Untitled (Protest Rally), 1928

Sale Date: May 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Mexican church courtyard., 1924

Tina Modotti

Mexican church courtyard., 1924

Sale Date: April 27, 2023

Auction Closed

Ohne Titel, 1925

Tina Modotti

Ohne Titel, 1925

Sale Date: October 28, 2022

Auction Closed

Diego Rivera Mural,

Tina Modotti

Diego Rivera Mural, "The Potters,"..., 1923–1928

Sale Date: October 11, 2022

Auction Closed

Diego Rivera Mural,

Tina Modotti

Diego Rivera Mural, "Fundicion - Abriendo el , 1928

Sale Date: October 11, 2022

Auction Closed

Ship on the Horizon

Tina Modotti

Ship on the Horizon

Sale Date: May 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled

Tina Modotti

Untitled

Sale Date: April 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled (Road, Mexico City)

Tina Modotti

Untitled (Road, Mexico City)

Sale Date: April 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Portrait of a Boy, 1916, 1916

Tina Modotti

Portrait of a Boy, 1916, 1916

Sale Date: April 7, 2022

Auction Closed

Interior Church Tower, Tepotzotlan, Mexico,..., 1924

Tina Modotti

Interior Church Tower, Tepotzotlan, Mexico,..., 1924

Sale Date: April 7, 2022

Auction Closed

Portrait of a boy, 1926, 1926

Tina Modotti

Portrait of a boy, 1926, 1926

Sale Date: April 7, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1920

Tina Modotti

Untitled, 1920

Sale Date: March 25, 2022

Auction Closed

English (US)

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