Artist
Tina Modotti(Italian and American, 1896–1942)Italian and American, 1896–1942
CultureItalian and American
Titles
- Campesinos (Workers' Parade)
Date1926
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 8 7/16 × 7 1/2 in. (21.5 × 19 cm)
Sheet: 8 7/16 × 7 1/2 in. (21.5 × 19 cm)
Mount: 17 × 13 15/16 in. (43.2 × 35.4 cm)
Sheet: 8 7/16 × 7 1/2 in. (21.5 × 19 cm)
Mount: 17 × 13 15/16 in. (43.2 × 35.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number2021.283
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 208
Exposé
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
Throughout her career, Tina Modotti promoted political causes through her Modernist artworks. With its sweep of circular shapes, this dynamic image depicts Mexican workers gathered for the annual May Day parade. In Mexico, the ubiquitous sombrero was immediately recognizable as an emblem of the working class. No individual faces are visible, and the mass of sombreros unites the workers as one. The photograph combines Modernist aesthetics with Communist politics, making the artist’s wielding of photographic abstraction socially and politically relevant.
ProvenanceEstate of David H. McAlpin; [Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York]; Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg, New York, c. 2010; [Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2021.
Exhibition HistoryPaint The Revolution: Mexican Modern Art, 1910-1950, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2016
Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, 2017
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed in pencil, mount recto, lower right below image: Tina Modotti -
Signed in pencil, mount recto, lower right
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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Tina Modotti
1930
Rotogravure
82.59.194