Tina Modotti : photographer and revolutionary Pubblished by Pandora, 1993 Hardcover in excellent condition, lacks dustwrapper From Publishers Weekly An Italian-born film star, Modatti learned photography with her lover Edward Weston in California during the early 1920s. She went on to develop a camera career of her own; she acquired several additional lovers, including Diego Rivera, in Mexico City's prevailing ferment of avant-garde art and politics; and, during the next 20 years, she became a major Communist revolutionary figure in Germany, Moscow and Spain. She was accused and exonerated of the assassination of one revolutionary lover; she risked her life to carry funds from Moscow to political prisoners in Romania; and she endured hardship, privation and deadly bombardments in Madrid and Barcelona. Repatriated to Mexico, she died in 1942 at the age of 46. Many of Modotti's portraits of celebrities and of common people as well as her journalistic photos are included here, along with characteristically simple, strong compositions--massed straw hats of workers on parade, telegraph wires akimbo, the heart of a calla lily. One of her studies, Roses, Mexico , fetched $165,000 at a Sotheby's auction in 1991. Hooks is a freelance foreign correspondent living in Mexico. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal This detailed study of the Italian-born photographer and political activist seeks to gather recognition for Modotti (1896-1942), who has been overshadowed by her lovers Edward Weston and Diego Rivera. Having acted in Hollywood silent films and theater, she accompanied Weston to Mexico, serving as his apprentice, model, and lover. Her images of Mexico's workers, its poverty and political unrest, and her abstract depictions of flowers and interior architecture have recently been sold at record-setting prices. In 1924, she joined the Mexican Communist party, supporting antifascist ideals. When a revolutionary leader with whom she was passionately involved was assassinated, Modotti devoted the remainder of her life to communism. Despite a bothersome journalistic style, Hooks ( Guatemalan Women Speak , EPICA, 1991) conveys the dramatic life of an extraordinary woman. Recommended for large collections. - Joan Levin, MLS, Chicago Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.