The Two Fridas

Last updated

The Two Fridas
Spanish: Las dos Fridas
The Two Fridas.jpg
Artist Frida Kahlo
Year1939
Medium Oil on canvas
Movement
Dimensions173.5 cm× 173 cm(68.3 in× 68 in)
Location Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City

The Two Fridas (Las dos Fridas in Spanish) is an oil painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The painting was the first large-scale work done by Kahlo and is considered one of her most notable paintings. [1] It is a double self-portrait, depicting two versions of Kahlo seated together. One is wearing a white European style Victorian dress, while the other is wearing a traditional Tehuana dress. [1] The painting is housed at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City.

Contents

History

Kahlo painted The Two Fridas in 1939, the same year she divorced artist Diego Rivera, [1] although they remarried a year later. According to Kahlo's friend, Fernando Gamboa, the painting was inspired by two paintings that Kahlo saw earlier that year at the Louvre: Théodore Chassériau's The Two Sisters and the anonymous Gabrielle d'Estrées and One of Her Sisters . [2]

In January 1940, The Two Fridas was exhibited along with The Wounded Table at the International Surrealist Exhibition in Mexico City. [3]

The painting remained in Kahlo's possession until it was acquired by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA) in 1947. The INBA transferred it to the Museo de Arte Moderno on December 28, 1966, where it is presently housed. [4] [5]

Subject

Some art historians have suggested that the two figures in the painting represent Frida's dual heritage. [6] Her father, Guillermo Kahlo, was German; while her mother, Matilde Calderon, was Mexican. [7] Another interpretation is that the Tehuana Frida is the one who was adored by her husband Diego Rivera, while the European Frida is the one that was rejected by him. [8] In Frida's own recollection, the image is of a memory of a childhood imaginary friend. [9]

Both Fridas hold items in their lap; the Mexican Frida holds a miniature portrait of her husband Diego Rivera, and the European Frida holds forceps. Blood spills onto the European Frida's white dress from a broken blood vessel that the forceps have cut. The blood vessel connects the two Fridas, winding its way from their hands through their hearts. [10] The work alludes to Kahlo's life of constant pain and surgical procedures and the Aztec tradition of human sacrifice. [10] Because this piece was completed by Kahlo shortly after her divorce, the European Frida is missing a piece of herself, her Diego. [8]

Both Fridas show an open heart. The heart of the Mexican Frida is healthy, whereas the heart of the European Frida is open and cut. An interpretation of this is that it not only shows two separate personalities but indicates the constant pain that Frida is going through. [11] The tragic motor accident that left her bedridden and then with medical problems throughout her life is shown through the two figures; one is weak while the other is strong. [11] Although the two figures appear separate, a vein connecting them further symbolises that despite the differences in the two figures they both make up one Frida; together they make the self-portrait. [11]

Impact

Hispanic studies professor Sarah M. Misemer suggests that Kahlo's multi-racial representation seen in The Two Fridas reflects the impact that the colonial era had on racial demographics in Mexico. [12] Additionally, Misemer argues that Kahlo's representation of herself as a multi-racial individual serves as a cultural symbol for the Mexican nation. [12]

Kahlo's work has inspired the creation of cultural products. For example, the painting The Two Fridas inspired a play called Las Dos Fridas (1998) by Bárbara Córcega, María del Carmen Farías, and Abraham Oceransky. [12] In this play, two separate actresses play different versions of Kahlo named Espina (Thorn) and Flor (Flower). Although these characters have different names, they are supposed to be the same person. [12] Espina wears a Tehuana outfit, like the indigenous representation of Kahlo seen in the painting, whereas Flor wears a suit from the 1940s. [12] In the original play, Espina and Flor were played by two of its writers, Córcega and Farías. [12]

The play begins with Flor asking Espina about Kahlo's identity. [12] Espina then explains different aspects of Kahlo's identity, such as her gender and career. Historians argue that these various understandings of Kahlo's identity, which Espina and Flor carry, suggest the multi-faceted nature of Kahlo's own identity. [12] This multifaceted nature of her identity is expanded through the set of the play; a sketch of a self-portrait of Kahlo is a prop on the stage. [12] The play then moves to the two versions of Kahlo acting out various scenes from her own life, with an emphasis on her struggles in her marriage with Rivera, who had numerous affairs with other women during their marriage. [12] Specifically, the play addresses the shame Kahlo feels and her denial regarding Rivera's affairs. [12] The play also highlights how Kahlo used her physical pain to manipulate Rivera into staying with her. Misemer's studies suggest that Kahlo's medical conditions and pain prevented Rivera from ending their relationship. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diego Rivera</span> Mexican muralist (1886–1957)

Diego Rivera was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the mural movement in Mexican and international art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frida Kahlo</span> Mexican painter (1907–1954)

Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society. Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. In addition to belonging to the post-revolutionary Mexicayotl movement, which sought to define a Mexican identity, Kahlo has been described as a surrealist or magical realist. She is also known for painting about her experience of chronic pain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guillermo Kahlo</span> German-Mexican photographer

Guillermo Kahlo was a German-Mexican photographer. He photographically documented important architectural works, churches, streets, landmarks, as well as industries and companies in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century; because of this, his work has not only artistic value but also historical and documental importance. He was the father of painter Frida Kahlo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lola Álvarez Bravo</span> Mexican photographer (1903–1993)

Lola Álvarez Bravo was the first Mexican female photographer and a key figure in the post-revolution Mexican renaissance. Known for her high level of skill in composition, her works were seen by her peers as fine art. She was recognized in 1964 with the Premio José Clemente Orozco, by the State of Jalisco, for her contributions to photography and her efforts to preserve the culture of Mexico. Her works are included in the permanent collections of international museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museo de Arte Moderno</span> Art Museum in Mexico City, Mexico

The Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM) is a museum dedicated to modern Mexican art located in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guadalupe Marín</span> Mexican model and novelist

Guadalupe "Lupe" Marín, born María Guadalupe Marín Preciado, was a Mexican model and novelist.

Fanny Rabel, born Fanny Rabinovich, was a Polish-born Mexican artist who is considered to be the first modern female muralist and one of the youngest associated with the Mexican muralism of the early to mid 20th century. She and her family arrived to Mexico in 1938 from Europe and she studied art at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda", where she met and became friends with Frida Kahlo. She became the only female member of “Los Fridos” a group of students under Kahlo’s tutelage. She also worked as an assistant and apprentice to Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, painting a number of murals of her own during her career. The most significant of these is "Ronda en el tiempo" at the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City. She also created canvases and other works, with children often featured in her work, and was one of the first of her generation to work with ecological themes in a series of works begun in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Rahon</span> French-born Mexican painter and writer (1904–1987)

Alice Phillipot (Alice Rahon) (8 June 1904 – September 1987) was a French-born Mexican poet and artist whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe but began painting in Mexico. She was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries. Her work remained tied to surrealism but was also innovative, including abstract elements and the use of techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture. She became isolated in her later life due to health issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelina Beloff</span> Russian-Mexican artist (1879–1969)

Angelina Beloff was a Russian-born artist who did most of her work in Mexico. However, she is better known as Diego Rivera’s first wife, and her work has been overshadowed by his and that of his later wives. She studied art in Saint Petersburg and then went to begin her art career in Paris in 1909. This same year she met Rivera and married him. In 1921, Rivera returned to Mexico, leaving Beloff behind and divorcing her. She never remarried. In 1932, through her contacts with various Mexican artists, she was sponsored to live and work in the country. She worked as an art teacher, a marionette show creator and had a number of exhibits of her work in the 1950s. Most of her work was done in Mexico, using Mexican imagery, but her artistic style remained European. In 1978, writer Elena Poniatowska wrote a novel based on her life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frida Kahlo Museum</span> Art museum in Mexico City

The Frida Kahlo Museum, also known as the Blue House for the structure's cobalt-blue walls, is a historic house museum and art museum dedicated to the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. It is located in the Colonia del Carmen neighborhood of Coyoacán in Mexico City. The building was Kahlo's birthplace, the home where she grew up, lived with her husband Diego Rivera for a number of years, and where she later died in a room on the upper floor. In 1957, Diego Rivera donated the home and its contents to turn it into a museum in Frida's honor.

<i>What the Water Gave Me</i> (painting) Painting by Frida Kahlo

What the Water Gave Me is an oil painting by Frida Kahlo that was completed in 1938. It is sometimes referred to as What I Saw in the Water.

<i>The Wounded Table</i> Painting by Frida Kahlo

The Wounded Table is an oil painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Although lost in 1955, three photos of this painting were taken between 1940 and 1944. The painting was first displayed in January 1940 at the International Surrealism Exhibit at Inés Amor's Gallery of Mexican Art in Mexico City, and a replica is currently displayed in the Kunstmuseum Gehrke-Remund, Baden-Baden, Germany. The painting was last exhibited in Warsaw in 1955, after which it disappeared, and is the subject of an ongoing international search.

<i>Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird</i> Painting by Frida Kahlo

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird is a 1940 self-portrait by Mexican painter Frida Kahlo which also includes a black cat, a monkey, and two dragonflies. It was painted after Kahlo's divorce from Diego Rivera and the end of her affair with photographer Nickolas Muray.

Teresa del Conde Pontones was a Mexican art critic and art historian.

<i>The Broken Column</i> Painting by Frida Kahlo

The Broken Column is an oil on masonite painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, painted in 1944 shortly after she had spinal surgery to correct on-going problems which had resulted from a serious traffic accident when she was 18 years old. The original is housed at the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico.

Cristina Kahlo y Calderón was the sister of artist Frida Kahlo. Frida painted a portrait of Cristina, titled Portrait of Cristina, My Sister, and Diego Rivera, Frida's husband, also portrayed Cristina Kahlo in his work. Cristina, with whom Rivera had an affair, was painted by Rivera in the nude.

<i>The Frame</i> (painting) Painting by Frida Kahlo

The Frame is a 1938 self-portrait by Frida Kahlo. The painting features Kahlo's self-portrait in oil on a sheet of aluminum framed in glass which she purchased from a market in Oaxaca, Mexico. Although the glass frame is included as part of the painting, the flowers, birds, and other details on the frame were painted prior to being purchased by Kahlo.

<i>Memory, the Heart</i> 1937 painting by Frida Kahlo

Memory, the Heart, a 1937 painting by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, depicts the pain and anguish Kahlo experienced during and after an affair between her husband, artist Diego Rivera, and her sister, Cristina Kahlo.

<i>Self-portrait in a Velvet Dress</i> 1926 painting by Frida Kahlo

Self-portrait in a Velvet Dress is a 1926 oil-on-canvas painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

<i>My Dress Hangs There</i> 1933 artwork by Frida Kahlo

My Dress Hangs There (1933) is an oil painting and collage by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lindauer, Margaret A. (1999). Devouring Frida: The Art History and Popular Celebrity of Frida Kahlo. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press. pp. 144–149. ISBN   0819563471.
  2. ↑ Grimberg, Salomon (2006). I Will Never Forget You: Frida Kahlo & Nickolas Muray. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. pp. 32, 42. ISBN   0811856925.
  3. ↑ Zamora, Martha (1990). Frida Kahlo: The Brush of Anguish. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN   0877017468.
  4. ↑ "Las dos Fridas". Museo de Arte Moderno (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  5. ↑ Kettenmann, Andrea (2003). Frida Kahlo, 1907-1954: Pain and Passion. Cologne: Taschen. p. 95. ISBN   3822859834.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Corrine (2009). "Remembrance of an Open Wound: Frida Kahlo and Post-revolutionary Mexican Identity". South Atlantic Review. 74 (4): 119–130. Archived from the original on 2015-03-29.
  7. ↑ Barnet-Sanchez, Holly (1997). "Review: Frida Kahlo: Her Life and Art Revisited". Latin American Research Review. 32 (3): 243–257. JSTOR   2504009.
  8. 1 2 Kettenmann, Andrea (1992). Kahlo. Slovakia: Taschen. p. 54. ISBN   978-3-8365-0085-2.
  9. ↑ Herrera, Hayden (1991). Frida Kahlo: The Paintings . Hong Kong: HarperCollins. pp.  135. ISBN   0-06-016699-1.
  10. 1 2 Stokstad, Marilyn; Cothren, Michael Watt (2011-01-01). Art history . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. pp.  1070. ISBN   9780205744220. OCLC   499179296.
  11. 1 2 3 "Iconographic Analysis: The Two Fridas – CUNY Academic Commons" . Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Misemer, Sarah, M. (2008). "(S)EX-VOTOS: "MIRACULOUS" PERFORMANCES OF THE BODY AND POLITICS BY FRIDA KAHLO." In Secular Saints: Performing Frida Kahlo, Carlos Gardel, Eva Perón, and Selena. Woodbridge, Suffolk; Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer. pp. 17–46.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.