Tina Modotti Auction Prices and Value Guide

Tina Modotti auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 479 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Tina Modotti auction prices: quick answer

Tina Modotti auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Tina Modotti
Source records
479
Market update
2026-02-06

Tina Modotti market snapshot

Tina Modotti shows deep auction liquidity with 194 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $812. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 8 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2026-01-14.

Realized price distribution

  • Under $1,000 (51.6% · 80 sales)
  • $1,000 to $10,000 (23.2% · 36 sales)
  • $10,000+ (25.2% · 39 sales)
Median sale (last 12 months)
$2,200
Sales recorded (last 12 months)
8
Median shift vs prior year
0.0%
Latest recorded sale
2026-01-14

Artist context

About Tina Modotti

Tina Modotti (1896–1942) was an Italian-born photographer, actress, and political activist whose work bridged modernist abstraction and social documentary. Born Assunta Adelaide Luigia Modotti in Udine, Italy, she emigrated to San Francisco in 1913 and later moved to Los Angeles, where she worked in theater and silent film. After meeting photographer Edward Weston in 1920, Modotti developed her own practice and the pair relocated to Mexico City in 1923. There, she entered the vibrant post-revolutionary cultural circle around Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Leon Trotsky. Modotti's photographs combine rigorous formal composition—seen in her celebrated architectural studies of staircases, telephone wires, and stadiums—with deeply human subjects such as workers' hands and rural life. Her political commitment to the Mexican Communist Party and the Comintern ultimately led to her expulsion from Mexico in 1930. After years in exile across Europe and the Soviet Union, she returned to Mexico City, where she died in 1942.

Modernist PhotographyMexican Post-Revolutionary RenaissanceGelatin silver printsPhotography (black-and-white)Architecture and urban geometry (staircases, stadiums, telephone wires)Labor and workers' dignityMexican folk art and landscapesStill life (flowers, plants, objects)

Common works and media

Modotti's most commonly encountered works at auction are gelatin silver prints in small dimensions, typical of the era's contact-printing and enlarging methods. Recurring subjects include architectural abstractions (staircases, stadiums, telephone wires), floral still lifes (notably roses and calla lilies), portraits of workers and peasants, political imagery, and documentation of Mexican murals and folk culture. Vintage prints from the 1920s Mexico City period are the rarest and most valuable. Later prints, including posthumous editions struck from surviving negatives, also appear on the market and should be evaluated with attention to provenance, condition, and institutional stamps or annotations on the verso.

Market and appraisal context

Tina Modotti's photographic career spanned roughly one decade, producing a small but historically significant body of work. Gelatin silver prints are the primary medium encountered at auction, with vintage prints—those made by Modotti herself near the time of the negative—commanding substantial premiums over later or posthumous editions. Iconic compositions including floral still lifes, architectural abstractions, and portraits of workers are the most sought-after subjects at auction. Provenance is a critical valuation factor: prints with documented lineage to the artist's estate, Edward Weston, or major institutional collections carry additional weight. Collectors should verify attribution carefully, as Modotti's close collaborative relationship with Weston and posthumous printing practices can complicate dating and authenticity. Her work appears in the permanent collections of MoMA, the Getty, and other major institutions.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Appraisal caveats

  • Modotti's politically active life and decades-long exile meant many negatives and prints were dispersed or lost; condition and provenance verification are especially important for her work.
  • The relatively small surviving body of work means auction appearances are infrequent, making comparable-sale analysis limited.
  • Later prints made from Modotti negatives by other parties (including posthumous editions) may circulate; these should be distinguished from vintage prints made by Modotti herself.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.

Source-grounded artist Markdown

Data basis

This page is built from Appraisily's public auction market index. Private transactions, incomplete sale feeds, and attribution changes may not be fully represented.

LLM-readable Markdown summary for Tina Modotti

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Tina Modotti worth?

Comparable public auction sales are the best starting point, but final value depends on the specific artwork, condition, size, medium, provenance, and attribution confidence.

Can Appraisily value my Tina Modotti artwork?

Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.