Diego Rivera and Tina Modotti: political allies and creative collaborators.

This portrait of Italian photographer Tina Modotti was made by Mexican artist Diego Rivera in 1926. It is signed Para Tina Modotti, or "For Tina Modotti" in the lower left corner.

About the Artwork

In this portrait, made with black chalk on paper, Rivera quickly established the outlines of her head and face, then carefully drew Modotti's eyes, nose, and mouth. Her facial features are striking and Rivera draws our attention to them using a series of simple, sinuous lines that are more expressive than realistic. He captured the strength of Modotti's character--she was a successful photographer in a country where women had few rights--and the gentleness of her features. Rivera contrasted his use of line and contour with careful shading, using the same chalk to make a wide range of values. He allowed the paper to show through to create highlights on her chin, nose, and forehead. They are balanced by the nearly black areas in her hair. The ways that the individual strands of hair stay distinct despite being in the darkest area of the drawing demonstrate Rivera's consummate drawing skill.

About the Artist: Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera was born in Mexico in 1886. He was a child prodigy who created his first drawing, a train, at age three. He entered the Academy of San Carlos in 1898, and after eight years, he received a scholarship for study in Europe. He resumed to Mexico in 1910 for an exhibition of his works, and the proceeds from the exhibition funded a return to Europe, where he would stay for ten years. In Europe, Rivera studied the works of old masters--Michelangelo, Raphael, Rembrandt, and Velasquez--and recent masters like Cezanne and Renoir. He became acquainted with the leading contemporary artists and worked in a manner that combined a wide range of influences, including pre-Columbian Mexican art, with Cubism, Futurism, and other modem styles.

Working in an Artists' Paradise

While Rivera was in Europe, his native country was torn apart by a civil war that lasted until 1921. That year, Alvaro Obregon, the popular candidate, assumed the presidency. Rivera resumed to Mexico and was appointed to an art-related government position. His return helped him focus as an artist: "My homecoming produced an aesthetic exhilaration which it is impossible to describe.... The very first sketch I completed amazed me. It was actually good! From then on I worked contentedly and confidently."

In the 1920s, the Mexican government actively supported and subsidized the arts. The government hired the leading artists of the time to create images that would reconnect Mexico's largely illiterate population to the proud history that had been lost in the Spanish colonial conquests. This period became known as the Mexican Mural Renaissance. The favorable environment in Mexico brought about the return of many native artists who had gone to Europe and America to study and to avoid the disasters of war. The government's open encouragement also led to the arrival of young avant-garde artists from other countries who saw an exciting opportunity in an "artists' paradise."

About the Subject: Tina Modotti

Tina Modotti was born in Italy in 1896 and emigrated to the United States in 1910. She was working as a seamstress in a department store when she was asked to model some of the stores' designs. In an incredibly short time, Modotti moved from being a model to acting in San Francisco's Italian theaters then on to starring in several silent films in Hollywood. Once in Los Angeles, Modotti was introduced to the city's underground of painters, poets, and photographers. Los Angeles harbored many Mexican men and women seeking to escape the turmoil of the civil war, and they regaled Modotti with their tales of the beauty of their land and the richness of their culture.

Modotti and her companion, photographer Edward Weston, drawn by the opportunities that Mexico presented, set up a studio in Mexico City in 1923. Modotti managed Weston's studio in exchange for being taught photography. Like Rivera, she was an artistic prodigy, but her talents did not emerge until her immersion in the Mexican artistic movement. She quickly became one of the most sought after portrait photographers in Mexico City, and her patrons introduced her and Weston to other leading artists, politicians, and writers. The close association of these talented people fueled their creative fires.

Working in Collaboration

Tina Modotti met Diego Rivera through mutual friends soon after her arrival in Mexico in 1923. Rivera was interested in her as a model and political ally before he became interested in her photography. They both had strong Communist leanings and deep concerns about the Mexican populace. After she had honed her skills and developed her reputation as a photographer, Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and others involved with the burgeoning mural project hired her to photograph their work. Rivera's murals were the most famous works to come out of the Mexican "Renaissance." They were commissioned by the Ministry of Education to provide decorations on the walls of the new buildings built by the Obregon government. Physically grand and thematically complex, the murals captured the history and heritage of the Mexican people and propagated Communist and Socialist ideals important to Rivera. Modotti's skillful photographs of these monumental works recorded their creation and made their messages accessible around the world. Because of their collaboration within one of the great artistic movements of this century, the names of Tina Modotti and Diego Rivera will always be closely linked.

RELATED ARTICLE: Suggested Activities

Elementary School: Collage Portraits

Create a portrait of someone you know using a collage of different things that you feel make up that person. Your portrait may not look like this person, but think about what they fool; like, what their personality is like, and what they like to do. Your collage can be made up of pictures from magazines, newspapers, maps, or catalogs or you could use colors, shapes, and textures that remind you of this person. When you have completed the picture, write a description of the person on a separate piece of paper.

Middle School: Contour Drawing

Work in pairs and create a portrait of your partner using line. You can try this using black chalk, like Rivera, or pencil or ink. Do not look at your hand while you are drawing, and do not lift your tool until you are done. After you have completed one drawing, try different techniques, like using the edge of your tool, or pressing harder or lighter. Compare your impressions of each drawing as you change your methods.

When you have finished several portraits, trade with your partner. Look closely at your drawing and describe what aspects of your personality were captured. For each drawing, choose one of your personality traits. Give an explanation of how each different technique reveals this characteristic.

High School: Portrait of a Political Figure

Create a portrait of a person in politics, or someone who represents strong political views, incorporating symbols that are associated with them or using exaggeration to bring out their most prominent physical features or ideological viewpoints. One suggestion is to use pencil, or like Rivera, use black chalk to create a caricature. Another suggestion is to use different elements cut out of magazines to make a collage or a composite portrait of a politician. Once you have made a collage, another approach is to use this collage as the starting point for a pencil or chalk portrait. You may even want to use famous quotes by or about this person and incorporate text into the portrait.

Resources

Founders Society Detroit Institute of Arts. Diego Rivera: A Retrospective. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1986. Lowe, Sarah M. Tina Modotti: Photographs. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1995. Rochfort, Desmond. The Murals of Diego Rivera. London: Journeyman Press Ltd., 1987. Wolfe, Bertram D. The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera. New York: Stein and Day, 1963.

Blake D. Bradford is a museum educator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.