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Interior of Church, Tepotzotlán, Mexico

A work made of platinum print.

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  • A work made of platinum print.

Date:

1924

Artist:

Tina Modotti
American, born Italy, 1896–1942

About this artwork

Tina Modotti learned photography from her mentor and lover, Edward Weston, with whom she lived in Mexico for several years in the 1920s. During that time, the pair would often photograph together, and produced still lifes, portraits of friends and locals, nudes, and architectural studies notable for their graphic clarity. This photograph of the interior of a church was made on a visit to Tepotzotlán during Holy Week in April 1924. In his Daybooks, Weston noted Modotti’s satisfaction with the pictures she made there, especially her “abstraction done in the tower”: “She is very happy over it and well she may be,” he wrote. “I, myself, would be pleased to have done it.” Modotti heightened the ambiguity of this already abstract composition by printing it with the platinum process, which registers subtle gradations of tone.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Tina Modotti

Title

Interior of Church, Tepotzotlán, Mexico

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1924

Medium

Platinum print

Inscriptions

Unmarked recto; inscribed verso, upper left, in graphite: "TOP"; verso, upper right, in graphite: "5 [encricled]"; verso, center, in graphite: "13 x 16 [upside-down [illegible] 742 [sideways]"

Dimensions

Image/paper: 24.3 × 18.3 cm (9 5/8 × 7 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Laura T. Magnuson Fund

Reference Number

1991.62

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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