Book Description
Tina Modotti and Edward Weston travelled to Mexico in 1923 at the start of an extraordinary period of artistic creativity that became known as the Mexican Renaissance. Although often perceived as being principally embodied by the politically motivated work of Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and JosŽ Clemente Orozco, the Mexican Renaissance was shaped by the contribution of dozens of artists, both Mexicans and expatriates, and gave rise to an exceptionally hospitable environment for innovative art-making. The work Modotti and Weston made in the 1920s marks the beginning of a Modernist photographic aesthetic that left an indelible mark on the history of photography in Mexico. Each contributed to this history individually: Modotti is known for beautiful still-lifes that gave way to Modernist images of Mexican workers and poetic revolutionary icons. Weston's Pictorialist-influenced imagery was abandoned in favour of sharp, clear, 'straight' photographs and an engagement with form. Also included in this exquisitely produced book is a selection of images by two Mexican photographers, Manuel çlvarez Bravo and Mariana Yampolsky, whose work was influenced by these two foreigners.

About the Author
Sarah M. Lowe is an independent art historian, based in New York.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Tina Modotti and Edward Weston arrived in Mexico in 1923 at the start of an extraordinary period of artistic creativity that became known as the Mexican Renaissance. Although often perceived as being principally embodied by the politically motivated work of such artists as Diego Rivera, this cultural resurgence gave rise to an exceptionally hospitable environment for innovative art-making and was shaped by the interplay between numerous artists from both Mexico and abroad. This book traces the interwoven lives and work of Modotti and Weston from the early 1920s in Los Angeles, where they met, until the 1930s, focusing in detail on their time together in Mexico, where virtually all of Modotti's photographs were taken. In bringing together for the first time close to 150 photographs by Modotti and Weston, it reveals the distinctive responses to Mexico of two photographers from widely different backgrounds. At the same time, like other Modernists in Mexico, these two artists self-consciously created work that broke wholly with the immediate past, and fashioned an idiom in defiance of traditional ideas. Combining superb reproductions with insightful discussion about the relationship between the two photographers' work, Tina Modotti & Edward Weston: The Mexico Years presents a unique view of non-European Modernist photographic production. Documenting a key period in the lives of Modotti and Weston, it is essential reading for anyone interested in these two significant figures and in early twentieth-century Mexican culture and history.

SYNOPSIS