Wide Angle: The Collection of Robert and Barbara Horwitch 
28 June 2018
Wide Angle: The Collection of Robert and Barbara Horwitch 
159

Tina Modotti 1896–1942

Detail of The Arsenal by Diego Rivera

c. 1928
vintage gelatin silver print 9¾ h × 7¾ w in (25 × 20 cm)
estimate: $1,000–1,500
result: $1,375
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Signed to verso 'Photograph by Tina Modotti'. Inscribed to verso 'This photograph is property of the B. Traven/R.E. Lujan Estate'.
provenance: Estate of B. Traven and Rosa Elena Lujan, Mexico City | Collection of Robert and Barbara Horwitch, Glencoe, IL

print
The Arsenal by Diego Rivera, 1928. Fresco, South wall, Patio de las Fiestas,
Secretaría de Educación Pública, Mexico City

This work by Italian-born artist and activist, Tina Modotti pictures a detail of Diego Rivera's 1928 mural, The Arsenal at the Patio de las Fiestas in Mexio City. The detail illustrates Rivera’s depiction of Modotti (holding an ammunition belt) looking intently at her lover and Cuban revolutionary, Julio Antonio Mella. Modotti was a fierce figure in the Mexican Communist party and a close friend of Rivera and Frida Khalo until her sudden death at the age of 45. Interestingly, this particular work comes from the estate of the mysterious German novelist and anarchist, B. Traven, whose many notable works include The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Death Ship.

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