Tina Modotti print values?

[WarEaglemtn]

A friend returned from Mexico with a Tina Modotti print. It was printed by another photographer under permission of the estate/family. Any idea what something like this might be worth on the market today?

 

[dpurdy]

significantly less than a vintage print. Which image is it? I have a lot of sothebys and christys catalogs that might have a price on the vintage print. But an estate print would be worth only a fraction and she really isn't that well known except for her association with EW.

 

[catem]

she really isn't that well known except for her association with EW.

I don't think that's the case in the U.K. Maybe over here Edward Weston is slightly less revered, and at the same time she is more valued.

 

[Ian Grant]

Tina Modotti is far better known in Europe, particularly in Italy, Greece etc for her left wing politics and association with Diego Rivera. Her photographic work is still very underrated in some circles.

There was a large exhibition of her work in the UK a couple of years ago it was well worth seeing.

Ian

 

[catem]

There was a large exhibition of her work in the UK a couple of years ago it was well worth seeing.

Ian

I don't know if that was a different one or the same one at the Barbican that I saw, joint exhibition of Modotti & Weston, interestingly entitled "Tina Modotti and Edward Weston" not the other way around. The two were treated very much the same, but if anything slightly more emphasis given to her work - she certainly wasn't seen as a 'hanger on' and credit was given for the influence she had on him - I was amazed just how much of her work there was, and was especially taken by her earlier work, many quite small, beautiful prints, and I have to say carried inspiration away with me from her pictures more than from Weston's.

 

[Ian Grant]

I don't know if that was a different one or the same one at the Barbican that I saw, joint exhibition of Modotti & Weston, interestingly entitled "Tina Modotti and Edward Weston" not the other way around.

No the exhibition I saw was just Tina Modotti, but I can't remember where, it was a major exhibition of just her work.

I have to agree the work I've seen of hers is superb and she suffers from the constant references & comparison to Weston.

Ian

 

[dpurdy]

Maybe I live in a bubble here in the US. I rarely hear or see anything by or about Tina Modotti. The work I have seen, I have never looked at a book of her work, seems to me very much less powerful than EW's work. I thought she was more of a motivated socialist with her photography than an artist. Maybe I just explained why she is not so big in America where socialism is the work of the devil.

 

[Ian Grant]

You have hit it on the nail, but she was an artist first before finally totally devoting herself to the socialist cause. Her politics would have meant it was very difficult for anyone to publish her work in the US until more recently.

Ian

 

[catem]

Maybe I live in a bubble here in the US. I rarely hear or see anything by or about Tina Modotti. The work I have seen, I have never looked at a book of her work, seems to me very much less powerful than EW's work. I thought she was more of a motivated socialist with her photography than an artist. Maybe I just explained why she is not so big in America where socialism is the work of the devil.

If all you have seen is screen or badly printed versions of her later propagandist work then you have missed a great deal.

Much of the work in the exhibition I saw had never been on public display before. It was a substantial body of work, many of the prints exquisite. She had a superb seeing eye and the ability to see the abstract beauty and simplicity in the every day. See it if you get the chance.

It could be that a print of hers is quite a good investment. Eventually she may be more deservedly appreciated in the U.S. as she is elsewhere.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

If you are interested in Tina Modotti's work, I'd give Throckmorton Fine Art in New York a call. They specialize in Latin American artists, and I'm pretty sure they've had shows of Tina Modotti before. They currently are showing Manuel Alvarez-Bravo.

 

[dpurdy]

300193187844

I just bought this Tina Modotti book on ebay. I notice there is a biography on there as well that I might get.

 

[Ian Grant]

Nice one.

It's a great little series of publications, you did well - very good price.

Ian