Tina Modotti – The Eye of Revolution

From silent film actress in Hollywood to her connections within the Mexican art movements where Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera played a pivotal role, this exhibition is a tribute to the work of the Italian photographer Tina Modotti (1896-1942), showing nearly 250 vintage prints. She played an active role in major political events in the 20s and 30s and had an unwavering commitment to social causes.

Within her art, Modotti captured the sights and people of Mexico, with women, folklore and religious art as focus. For most of her life, and after, the work by Tina was overshadowed by the influential and renowned photographer Edward Weston, who had introduced her to the field of photography. Recent research shows that photography between the two artists was often difficult to differentiate, sometimes wrongly assigning Weston to a photograph.

Woman of Tehuantepec (carrying jicalpex- tle), 1929, photo by Tina Modotti / Courtesy Throckmorton Fine Art, New York.

Untitled, (Indians carrying loads of corn husks for the making of “tamales’) 1926-1929, photo by Tina Modotti / San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Donations from Art Supporting Foundation, John ≪ Launny ≫ Steffens, Sandra Lloyd, Shawn and Brook Byers, Mr. and Mrs. George F. Jewett, Jr., and anonymous donors.

Tina Modotti in costume, 1920-1921, photo by Victoria Studio / Courtesy Throckmorton Fine Art, New York.

TINA MODOTTI – The Eye of Revolution is open until the 12th May at Jeu de Paume in Paris.