Kahlo

Frida Kahlo. (Mexican, 1907-1954).
Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair. 1940.
Oil on canvas, 15 3/4 x 11" (40 x 27.9 cm).
Gift of Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.
courtesy of and owned by...
Museum of Modern Art

One could talk about Frida Kahlo forever. Note the size of this work. While I knew her works were small, I didn't really get the idea of how small until I saw one in person. This work is on one of my favorite floors of MoMA alongside the work of Joseph Cornell, Salvador Dali and more.

Kahlo's portraits are searingly personal, her biography a very important part of her work. At the same time, I feel that they are powerful works without reading up on biography. While you may not necessarily know the details of how what brought her to create many of these images they still elicit stories. Her marriage to Diego Riviera, an accident that changed her life, her life is displayed in paint on these very small canvases. The paintings are strong and bold, colorful and intricate, like Kahlo herself.

I added a new list of links to the right that is going to include sites dedicated to individual exhibitions (some born digital, some web versions of a physical show) I come across and find interesting. I find these sites excellent in making up for the fact that I can't jet set around the country catching exhibitions (or just jet to nyc once a month!).