Tina Modotti
Scaffolding

Public Domain

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Images(3)

Artist Tina Modotti(Italian and American, 1896–1942)Italian and American, 1896–1942

CultureMexican

Titles

Scaffolding

Date1926

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (24.1 x 19.1 cm)
Sheet: 9 1/2 × 7 1/2 in. (24.1 × 19.1 cm)
Mount: 16 3/8 x 13 in. (41.7 x 33 cm)

Credit LineGift of Manfred Heiting, The Manfred Heiting Collection

Object number2002.1680

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Special Collections

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

Description

Although
the title of this photograph, Scaffolding,
is a literal reference to the lumber leaning against the stone facade, it could
equally describe the geometric structure of Tina Modotti’s composition. The
image is purposely ambiguous; shadows and sunlit planes from both the facade
and temporary scaffold blend into one another on the two-dimensional surface of
the photograph as if part of the same structure. At once abstract and material,
Modotti’s photographs of decontextualized edifices like this one exemplify Modernist
trends in photography of the 1920s.

Modotti moved to
Mexico—where this photograph was likely taken—in 1923 with her then-lover, photographer
Edward Weston (1886–1958). Weston, who would go on to become one of the giants
of American photography, introduced her to the medium of photography, and
through it she was eventually able to achieve financial self-sufficiency.
Modotti formed close ties with many artists working in Mexico at the time,
including Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera. Although this
photograph demonstrates her early interest in abstraction, her later art is
highly political. In 1930, Modotti was exiled by the Mexican government for her
affiliations with the Mexican Communist Party.
ProvenanceEstate of Tina Modotti; Sotheby's New York, November 10, 1986

Bought by Manfred Heiting from Edwyn Houk Gallery on 6/14/1983.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed in pencil, verso of mount, upper center: "BASE cm 19.6 / BASE cm 11.7", pencil vertical and horizontal lines with arrows
Inscribed in pencil, verso of mount, center, circled in pencil: "PAG. 31" top right "50", center outside stamp "50"
recto of mount above upper center of sheet in pencil "1.0411"

bottom right below image on mount in pencil "Tina Modotti"

verso of mount center a circular blue stamp "COMANDANCIA GENERAL 5 regimento[illegible] populares / E.M. / comisario politico"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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