GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Considered Frida Kahlo’s sole attempt at fresco painting, this small plasterboard panel reveals the artist’s exploration and subsequent abandonment of a medium with which her husband—famed muralist Diego Rivera—had much familiarity. Unaccustomed to the speed and spontaneity required to complete a fresco painting, Kahlo let her first prepared panel, a gift from her husband, dry completely before applying paint to its surface.
Her second attempt, this self-portrait, does not deviate stylistically from the collective image the world holds of the celebrated Mexican artist. New, however, are the multilingual insults she paints surrounding her face, including “No Sirve” (“Doesn’t Work”), “Oh Boy!” and “Very Ugly,” revealing a dissatisfaction with herself in the dried panel. Kahlo’s work was intrinsically tied to her slow, introspective, and meditative practice in oil, which allowed numerous alterations to her finished canvas. Her abandonment of fresco painting can likewise be interpreted as a rejection of Rivera’s painting methods and heavy artistic influence.
Adapted from
Erin Piñon, Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.
NOTES
- México 1900-1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, and the Avant Garde.
- Tower Gallery: Latin American Art
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Kahlo_Frida: ULAN: 500030701
Cultures
Geography
Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560
Mexico City (Mexico): TGN: 7007227
Coyoacán (inhabited place / Mexico City): TGN: 1004317
Process/materials
fresco painting (technique): AAT: 300053357
plaster board (plasterboard / gypsum board / wallboard / building board): AAT: 300070066
plaster: AAT: 300014922
board: AAT: 300014616
composition wood board (composition board): AAT: 300411316
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
painting (visual works): AAT: 300033618
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
human figures: AAT: 300404114
female: AAT: 300189557
women (female humans): AAT: 300025943
heads (representations): AAT: 300262520
faces (animal or human components): AAT: 300251798
busts (figure): AAT: 300047457
portrait: AAT: 300015637
self-portraits: AAT: 300124534
identity: AAT: 300257052
hairstyles: AAT: 300262903
braids (hairstyle): AAT: 300404709
buns (hair buns / hairstyles): DMA
necklaces: AAT: 300046001
Mexican Muralist (movement): AAT: 300107850
muralist (painter): AAT: 300025153
murals: AAT: 300182732
Rivera_Diego: ULAN: 500025126
languages: AAT: 300386046
writing systems: AAT: 300389741
words: AAT: 300250895
fruit (plant components): AAT: 300011868
apple (fruit/plants): AAT: 300266417
animals (Animalia kingdom): AAT: 300249395
birds (animals): AAT: 300266506
birds (motifs): AAT: 300375751
canvas: AAT: 300014078
influence: AAT: 300055860
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PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
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General Description
Considered Frida Kahlo’s sole attempt at fresco painting, this small plasterboard panel reveals the artist’s exploration and subsequent abandonment of a medium with which her husband—famed muralist Diego Rivera—had much familiarity. Unaccustomed to the speed and spontaneity required to complete a fresco painting, Kahlo let her first prepared panel, a gift from her husband, dry completely before applying paint to its surface.
Her second attempt, this self-portrait, does not deviate stylistically from the collective image the world holds of the celebrated Mexican artist. New, however, are the multilingual insults she paints surrounding her face, including “No Sirve” (“Doesn’t Work”), “Oh Boy!” and “Very Ugly,” revealing a dissatisfaction with herself in the dried panel. Kahlo’s work was intrinsically tied to her slow, introspective, and meditative practice in oil, which allowed numerous alterations to her finished canvas. Her abandonment of fresco painting can likewise be interpreted as a rejection of Rivera’s painting methods and heavy artistic influence.
Adapted from
Erin Piñon, Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
- México 1900-1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, and the Avant Garde.
- Tower Gallery: Latin American Art
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Kahlo_Frida: ULAN: 500030701
Cultures
Geography
Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560
Mexico City (Mexico): TGN: 7007227
Coyoacán (inhabited place / Mexico City): TGN: 1004317
Process/materials
fresco painting (technique): AAT: 300053357
plaster board (plasterboard / gypsum board / wallboard / building board): AAT: 300070066
plaster: AAT: 300014922
board: AAT: 300014616
composition wood board (composition board): AAT: 300411316
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
painting (visual works): AAT: 300033618
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
human figures: AAT: 300404114
female: AAT: 300189557
women (female humans): AAT: 300025943
heads (representations): AAT: 300262520
faces (animal or human components): AAT: 300251798
busts (figure): AAT: 300047457
portrait: AAT: 300015637
self-portraits: AAT: 300124534
identity: AAT: 300257052
hairstyles: AAT: 300262903
braids (hairstyle): AAT: 300404709
buns (hair buns / hairstyles): DMA
necklaces: AAT: 300046001
Mexican Muralist (movement): AAT: 300107850
muralist (painter): AAT: 300025153
murals: AAT: 300182732
Rivera_Diego: ULAN: 500025126
languages: AAT: 300386046
writing systems: AAT: 300389741
words: AAT: 300250895
fruit (plant components): AAT: 300011868
apple (fruit/plants): AAT: 300266417
animals (Animalia kingdom): AAT: 300249395
birds (animals): AAT: 300266506
birds (motifs): AAT: 300375751
canvas: AAT: 300014078
influence: AAT: 300055860
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
source file
object_notes_3_c-0337.xml.nores