Background
Constantine (she used her maiden name professionally) was born in 1913 in Brooklyn, New New York
(Illustrated with over 200 examples drawn from artists pra...)
Illustrated with over 200 examples drawn from artists practicing around the world, this comprehensive resource thoroughly documents the history of cloth in art. Among the extraordinary roster of international artists--in many disciplines, with diverse philosophies--are James Bassler, Christo, Eva Hesse, Faith Ringgold, and Andy Warhol. 240 illustrations, 120 in color.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188525475X/?tag=2022091-20
(In this beautifully designed and produced volume, over 10...)
In this beautifully designed and produced volume, over 100 photographs - including Weston's numerous portraits of Modotti - and Mildred Constantine's sympathetic, meticulously researched text capture the fullness of a life wholly devoted to political, personal, and artistic freedom. Perceptive and authoritative, Tina Modotti lifts the veil on a fragile life of iron.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0747516227/?tag=2022091-20
(Now widely recognized as one of the early twentieth centu...)
Now widely recognized as one of the early twentieth century's most extraordinary photographers, Tina Modotti was remembered until recently more for her relationship to Edward Weston than for her own strong, sensuous work. This comprehensively produced biography, now published for the first time in paperback, captures in over 100 striking photographs and a sympathetic, meticulously researched text the fullness of a life wholly committed to political, personal, and artistic freedom. From her early days in Hollywood as a silent film actress, through the creative, fruitful years in Mexico with Weston and her political exile in 1930s Europe, to her sudden death in 1942, Tina Modotti's courage, clear vision, and dramatic flair made her one of the most internationally controversial and widely admired artistic figures of her day. Perceptive and authoritative, Tina Modotti lifts the veil on a fragile life of iron.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811805026/?tag=2022091-20
Constantine (she used her maiden name professionally) was born in 1913 in Brooklyn, New New York
Bachelor, New York University, 1936. Master of Arts in Fine Arts, New York University, 1939. Postgraduate, National Autonomous University, Mexico, 1938.
She worked for the College Art Association from 1931 to 1937 as an editorial assistant on the journal Parnassus. She met Rene d"Harnoncourt, her future boss as director of the Museum of Modern Art, while she was working at the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. A Latin American poster collection she organized was shown at the Library of Congress and became part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art"s permanent collection.
From 1943 through 1970, Constantine worked in the architecture and design department of the Museum of Modern Art, as associate curator and later as curatorial consultant, where she helped popularize collections that were hard to categorize or had been ignored, which she called "fugitive material".
Her 1948 exhibition Polio Posters was the museum"s first devoted to causes, and included works she commissioned to help spread awareness of various social issues. She organized solo exhibitions for graphic and product designers including Alvin Lustig, Bruno Munari, Massimo Vignelli and Tadanori Yokoo that were described by The New York Times as "career-defining".
Her broader-themed exhibitions in the applied and decorative arts included Olivetti: Design in Industry in 1952, Signs in the Street in 1954 and the 1962 exhibit of Lettering by Hand. Constantine organized the 1968 exhibition titled Word and Image, which was the first exhibition to focus on the posters in the museum"s collection from the 20th century, and whose catalog is considered a major element documenting the history of the poster.
"the Museum of Modern Art"s new exhibition of posters, which opened yesterday under the title Word and Image, is so handsome that for a minute you wonder why billboards are disfigurements", noting that the museum had held 35 prior poster exhibitions but that this was its most comprehensive and that while most posters look dated after a few years, the items Constantine selected from the museum"s collection of 2,000 posters "are as forceful as when they were issued."
Critic Hilton Kramer"s review in The Times, described the exhibit as consisting of 300 posters from the period from 1879 to 1967, chosen by Constantine based on their "esthetic merit", though Kramer felt that the exhibit could not explain the late-1960s poster fad whose psychedelic designs he believed were no match for the graphic masterpieces of earlier days.
Following her 1971 departure from the Museum of Modern Art, she produced exhibitions and books on the subjects of caricature, cartoons, decorative arts and photography, including here work as curator of the 1988 Frontiers in Fiber: The Americans and the 2002 exhibit Small Works in Fiber, both of which drew attention to textile and fiber art
Constantine died at age 95 on December 10, 2008 of heart failure in her home in Nyack, New New York "Constantine, Mildred (1913–2008)". MoMA.org. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
(In this beautifully designed and produced volume, over 10...)
(Now widely recognized as one of the early twentieth centu...)
(Now widely recognized as one of the early twentieth centu...)
(Illustrated with over 200 examples drawn from artists pra...)
(y First American edi)
She traveled to Mexico in 1936 as part of the leftist Committee Against War and Fascism, where she developed an interest Latin and Central American political graphics. In his January 1968 review of the exhibit, art critic John Canaday of The New York Times opened noting that.
Member of College Art Association.
Married Ralph W. Bettelheim, 1942 (deceased 1993). Children: Judith Bettelheim, Vicki McDaniel.