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TINA MODOTTI (American, b. Italy, 1896-1942) FLAGELLATION OF CHRIST vintage gelatin silver print 99/

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD
TINA MODOTTI (American, b. Italy, 1896-1942) FLAGELLATION OF CHRIST vintage gelatin silver print 99/
TINA MODOTTI (American, b. Italy, 1896-1942) FLAGELLATION OF CHRIST vintage gelatin silver print 99/16 x 71/2 in. (24.3 x 19.1cm) 1925 ESTIMATE: $6,000-8,000 PROVENANCE Sotheby's NEW YORK, Sale Number 6973, April 18, 1997, Lot 239 Private Collection, NEW YORK LITERATURE Sarah M. Lowe, TINA MODOTTI: PHOTOGRAPHS, NEW YORK, 1995, pl. 58 (cropped version illustrated) This arresting image derives from Modotti's explorations of the culture of the indigenous Mexican people. Modotti spent 1923-1930 in Mexico, a time of profound social change. Her works were inspired by her radical politics and support of the Mexican Revolution, her interest in Pre-Columbian culture and ancient Indian traditions, and the influence of the great Mexican muralists, Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. In 1925, when Francis Toor asked Modotti to be a contributing editor to his periodical MEXICAN FOLKWAYS, she began to photograph Mexican folk objects. This dramatic close-up of the carved Christ figure is strongly linked to the artistic ideology of the Mexican Revolution, the reclaiming of the traditions of Mexico as a "visual resource for artistic inspiration" (Lowe, p.26).