Walter Frederick Seely

extensively captioned in an unidentified hand in ink, a typed caption label (in Italian), Vittorio Vidali's Fifth Regiment stamp, and reduction notations on the reverse, 1921

Lowe, p. 17, fig. 5 (this print); A Fragile Life, p. 27; Verdad y Leyenda de Tina Modotti, fig. 8 (there attributed to Edward Weston); Gli Anni Luminosi, p. 18

This image was first published in California Southland magazine, No. 23, November 1921, Prentice Duell, 'Textiles and Interior Decoration Department: A Note on Batik,' p. 19

This photograph is on double-weight paper with a slightly warm tonality. When the print is examined closely, a thin translucent coating can be seen on the surface. This uneven coating – possibly applied to enhance the print for reproductive purposes – does not extend completely to the edges, and it appears that the print originally had a matte surface. When the print is examined in raking light, a horizontal crease running just below the print's center can be seen – this has been flattened successfully and is not immediately apparent. While these condition issues bear mentioning, they do not seriously undermine the overall appearance of this lovely, light-infused photograph. The caption on the reverse of this print, in an unidentified hand, reads: 'In Los Angeles in 1920-21 making Batiks with her husband Robo de L'Abrie Richey in their studio. They were married about 1915 and he died in Mexico about 1922. He was a poet and a renown [sic] painter.'
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This photograph shows Tina Modotti and her husband Roubaix de l'Abrie Richie, known as Robo, at work in their Los Angeles studio.  The couple was married in 1918 in San Francisco, where Modotti had settled initially after immigrating from Italy.  Robo, born Ruby Richey in rural Oregon, had moved to San Francisco in the 'teens where he created a new, more exotic persona for himself, with a name to match, and traveled in the city's Bohemian artistic circles.  In much the same way that Margrethe Mather introduced photographer Edward Weston to the broader world of art and culture, Robo similarly expanded Modotti's horizons. 

Robo was omni-talented: he wrote poetry, worked as an illustrator, drew political cartoons, and painted, and was especially talented at the art of batik.  His fabric designs were used in costumes and set designs for movies and stage productions.  Modotti depended for income at the time upon her considerable skills as a seamstress and clothing designer.  Robo encouraged Modotti in her creative endeavors and, during this time, Modotti performed regularly in numerous plays produced by Italian community theater groups.  This led eventually to small roles for Modotti in a number of silent films. 

In 1918, the couple moved to Los Angeles, possibly for the benefit of Modotti's budding career in cinema.  To Angelino bohemia, Modotti and Robo presented the ideal couple: two highly imaginative and attractive individuals linked romantically, each encouraging the other's creative endeavors.  The charismatic couple became at once very popular.  It was in Los Angeles that Modotti and Robo met Edward Weston, who would soon become Modotti's lover. 

The photograph offered here was taken by the prominent Hollywood portrait photographer, Walter Frederick Seely, to accompany an article on the couple that appeared in California Southland magazine.  The article, ostensibly about batik and its applications in interior design, gives the following description of the couple's idealized creative existence:

'Even though the artist colony of Los Angeles is noted for a certain individualism and picturesque quality, one would hardly expect to find in a small, lone studio a French [sic] artist and his Italian wife making batiks much superior to those of the Javanese themselves.  Such, however, is the case.  Amid surroundings which recall Medieval Florence, M. Roubaix de l'Abrie Richey and Mme. Tina create these fabrics of vivid and curious design. . .'  (quoted in Tina Modotti, Photographer and Revolutionary, p. 35).  

In the early 1920s, Robo became fascinated by Mexico and proposed to Tina and to Edward Weston that they move there and share studio space.  Robo went to Mexico in late 1921.  Shortly thereafter he contracted smallpox and died in February of 1922. 

The photograph offered here comes originally from the collection of Vittorio Vidali (1900-1983), Modotti's close friend and companion during the last 15 years of her life.  It was in Modotti's collection at the time of her death.