Tina Modotti (1896–1942) - Luz Jiménez and her Daughter Conchita, Mexico City 1926

Luz Jiménez and her Daughter Conchita, Mexico City 1926
The Nahua woman Luz Jiménez (born Julia Jiménez González, 1897–1965) from Milpa Alta, pictured with her daughter, Conchita.
Luz Jiménez frequently served as a model for 20th-century Mexican artists (such as Diego Rivera) and was a significant preserver of the Nahuatl language and culture.
• Collection: An original gelatin silver print of this work is held, among other places, by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
Luz Jiménez (born Julia Jiménez González, 1897–1965) was far more than just a "muse" or a simple model. Today, she is recognized as one of the most important Indigenous intellectuals, preservers of language, and cultural intermediaries of post-revolutionary Mexico.
Here are the key facets of her extraordinary life:
1. The Face of Mexican Muralism
Following the devastation of the Mexican Revolution, Luz Jiménez moved to Mexico City in the 1920s. To earn a living, she began working as a model for art schools and for the most renowned painters of the era:
• Diego Rivera immortalized her in many of his famous murals, including those in the National Palace and the Ministry of Public Education. He depicted her in works such as *La molendera* (The Woman Grinding Corn) and *Weaving*.
• José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jean Charlot also used her features as a symbol of Indigenous identity and the Indigenous roots of modern Mexico.
• In addition to being photographed by Tina Modotti, she was also the subject of portraits by the American photographer Edward Weston.
2. Scholar of Language and Culture (Nahuatl)
Perhaps her most enduring achievement lies in her academic work. Luz Jiménez was fluent in Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs). For decades, she worked as a linguistic informant and co-author, collaborating with prominent anthropologists and linguists.
• She taught the structure of the Nahuatl language to researchers such as Benjamin Lee Whorf.
• Together with the anthropologist Fernando Horcasitas, she documented the stories, myths, and oral traditions of her home community, Milpa Alta. The resulting book, *Life and Death in Milpa Alta*, is considered an invaluable historical record, as it describes the Revolution from the perspective of the indigenous population.
3. Late Recognition
During her lifetime, Luz Jiménez was often identified in museums and galleries only anonymously—as "the indigenous woman" or "the Mexican mother." It is only in recent decades that historical scholarship has brought her own intellectual legacy to the fore. Today, she is recognized as a bridge-builder who played a crucial role in ensuring that the indigenous culture of Mexico did not fade into oblivion.
Gelatin silver print on baryta paper, 30x24 cm, Galerie Bilderwelt, portfolio edition of 5.
Print used in the exhibition, catalog & portfolio "TINA MODOTTI -Photographien & Dokumente" Berlin 1989, the first exhibition of Modottis work in Germany.
It was organized in cooperation with Fototeca del Inah, Pachuca, Mexico, the repository of the surviving Modotti negatives transferred from Trieste to Mexico in the 1970s by Carlos Vidali, son of Vittorio Vidali, the last companion of Tina Modotti.

This image was also shown in the exhibition TINA MODOTTI produced by Galerie Bilderwelt for the Museo Cerralbo as part of XXV edition of PHotoESPAÑA in 2022.It is documented in the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrKmxgnf3pI
Other exhibitions include:
Parma 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwxiaP_s494