About the Artwork
In this photograph of calla lilies, Tina Modotti depicted the long, gentle lines of their silhouetted stems leading up to their full blooms. She created a series of plant studies during her stay in Mexico from 1923 to 1930. Her approach to photography was similar to that of her companion, photographer Edward Weston. They shared the belief that a photograph should capture the simple beauty of an object itself through careful composition and technically superior printing methods that simply render in black-and-white tones the detail, texture, and form of the subject.
Calla Lilies
ca. 1927
Tina Modotti
1896 - 1942
American
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Gelatin silver print
Image: 9 1/4 × 7 inches (23.5 × 17.8 cm) Mount: 12 × 14 inches (30.5 × 35.6 cm)
Photographs
Prints, Drawings & Photographs
Founders Society Purchase, Abraham Borman Family Fund
F77.18
Non-commercial all standard museum
Markings
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Provenance
(Ex Libris, New York, New York, USA);1977-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Bulletin of the DIA 56, no. 2 (1978): pp. 141-142; p. 147 (ill.).
Photographs from Detroit Collections. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 1983, cover (ill.).
Diego Rivera and His Mexico: Through the Camera's Eye. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 1986, checklist no. 81.
Lowe, Sarah M. Tina Modotti: Photographs. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. New York and Philadelphia, 1995, cover (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
No known estate claims. Ok to use for non-commercial use. See Nancy Barr.
Tina Modotti, Calla Lilies, ca. 1927, gelatin silver print. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Abraham Borman Family Fund, F77.18.
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