MODOTTI (Tina). — A Mexican Passion. - Lot 185

MODOTTI (Tina). — A Mexican Passion. Paris, Latin Union, 2002. Square quarto, paperback, illustrated cover with flaps, lavishly illustrated with black-and-white photographs. ISBN 92-9122-012-4. Catalog of the exhibition Tina Modotti, A Mexican Passion, organized by the Union Latine and presented in Paris at the Instituto Cervantes from October 24 to December 13, 2002. The BnF confirms this 2002 Paris edition and its status as an exhibition catalog. The catalog is devoted primarily to the Mexican years of Tina Modotti (1896–1942), a pivotal period in her photographic work. It reproduces her most characteristic compositions, in which the formal rigor inherited from Edward Weston gradually blends with a focus on Mexican society and political engagement: workers’ hands, tools, corn, architecture, scenes of everyday life, and portraits. Notably included are *Hands on the Pickaxe* (Mexico, 1926) and *Illustration for a Mexican Song* (1927), both of which can be seen in your copy. The catalog was produced by the Culture and Communication Department of the Latin Union in collaboration with Cinemazero of Pordenone. It includes, notably, a text by Sarah M. Lowe, translated by Édouard Pommier. The specialized bibliography properly credits Sarah M. Lowe for this Parisian catalog. The volume is of particular interest today: it documents a relatively early French exhibition of Modotti’s work and is a catalog that is significantly less common than the modern monographs devoted to the photographer. A very fine copy. The interior is in excellent condition; the cover is well-preserved, with only minimal signs of wear.