Description
Diego in My Thoughts is a self-portrait by Frida Kahlo from 1943: the painter shows herself in the headdress of the women of Tehuantepec, a wide spread of white lace that frames her face like a great halo, with a wreath of leaves and flowers on the crown of her head. In the middle of her forehead, just above her joined eyebrows, sits a small portrait of her husband Diego Rivera, and from the lace fine threads run out in every direction like roots or veins. The original, oil on masonite, is 76 cm high and 61 cm wide and belongs to the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection in Mexico City. Our painter paints it by hand in oil colours on canvas, in one of 8 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 140 x 180 cm or made to measure, and before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished piece.
| Title: | Diego in My Thoughts |
| Other titles: | Self-Portrait as a Tehuana · Diego on My Mind |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1943 |
| Original size: | 76 cm x 61 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on masonite |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, Mexico City |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Diego in My Thoughts – Frida Kahlo
What can you see in Diego in My Thoughts?
Kahlo paints herself from the chest up and looks us straight in the eye. Her face is serious; her dark eyebrows meet above the nose in a single arch. Around the face everything is white lace, open only in an oval for the face.
The lace is not a plain surface. Small white flowers repeat across it, and towards the background its edge breaks into wavy points. On the crown of her head lies a wreath of dark green and brownish leaves, with pink, deep red and white flowers among them.
On her forehead, exactly above the bridge of the nose, Diego Rivera is painted. We see him from the shoulders up, with dark hair and dark clothes, as small as a locket set straight into the skin.
Thin dark threads spread from the lace on all sides. Some twist down over the chest like roots, others reach into the brown background like veins. Lower down a broad pink ribbon crosses her chest, and beneath it a pale green, finely pleated garment shows.
What does Diego on her forehead mean?
The title says almost everything: Diego is in her thoughts. This time Kahlo does not place him beside her, as she had twelve years earlier in the wedding portrait Frieda and Diego Rivera, but at the spot where thoughts are born.
The painter and Rivera married in 1929, divorced in 1939 and married again in 1940, so this canvas dates from three years after their second wedding. Little else is recorded about its making, so the meaning stays open.
Roots recur often in her work: according to Wikipedia they tie her to the ground and speak of growth, of being trapped in a place and a time, or of how the past bears on the present.
Six years later the idea came back in Diego and I, with Rivera’s small portrait once more on her forehead.
Why is this self-portrait so well known?
Frida Kahlo is known above all for her self-portraits. A bus accident at 18 left her in pain for the rest of her life; during the long recovery she painted in bed, with a mirror above the easel, and so became the subject she knew best.
She often wore the dress of the women of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and painted herself in it. In post-revolutionary Mexico that dress stood for an authentic Indigenous heritage, and for the painter, as Wikipedia notes, it was also a way of voicing her feminist and anti-colonial ideals.
André Breton counted her among the Surrealists, but she rejected Surrealism and said she painted her own reality, not dreams. Her life and work are covered in the Wikipedia article on the painter (in English); there is no separate article on this work.
Where is the original of Diego in My Thoughts?
The original belongs to the private Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection in Mexico City rather than to a public museum, so it is not on permanent view. Works from this collection toured museums in the United States and Canada from 2019 to 2022 in an exhibition on Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican modernism.
It is painted in oil on masonite, a hard board of pressed wood fibres, and measures 76 cm high by 61 cm wide.
Diego in My Thoughts or another Kahlo?
Diego in My Thoughts suits anyone drawn to a strong, frontal face and a light, almost white surface.
If you want two figures of the same woman holding hands, choose The Two Fridas. A darker, green world of animals, thorns and butterflies opens in Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird.
All the famous Frida Kahlo paintings we paint to order are gathered on the Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter paint your version?
Kahlo painted with flat, clean colours, crisp outlines and a very smooth surface, with no visible relief in the brushwork. Our painter respects that: the paint goes on in thin coats, layer by layer, and is smoothed so the canvas stays as calm as the original board.
First come the brown background and the large oval outline of the lace, then the warm, ruddy skin of the face and the joined eyebrows.
After that come the smallest parts: Rivera’s portrait on the forehead, the flowers and leaves of the wreath, and the long thin threads, each drawn with a fine brush in one stroke.
The result is a Frida Kahlo reproduction whose colours are real layers of oil, not printed dots. Like any oil painting reproduction it changes with the light: by day the white lace looks cool, and in the evening, under a warm lamp, it takes on a faint golden glow.
Which size is right for your wall?
In short: 40 x 49 or 46 x 55 cm for a narrow wall or a bedside table, 58 x 70 or 71 x 91 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk, 81 x 100 or 102 x 125 cm above a sofa or a bed, and 111 x 145 or 140 x 180 cm for a tall wall or a stairwell.
We offer 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 40 x 49, 46 x 55, 58 x 70, 71 x 91, 81 x 100, 102 x 125, 111 x 145 and 140 x 180 cm. The nearest to the original is 58 x 70 cm, which is 3 cm narrower and 6 cm shorter.
As a painting for the living room above a sofa, 81 x 100 cm works well; hang it with the lower edge 20 to 25 cm above the backrest.
Can I order another size or a frame?
Yes. The original is about 4 : 5, so an unlisted size works without losing the wreath or the threads at the edge. Tell us the size you need and we will reply with the price and the time it takes.
Diego in My Thoughts travels to you rolled, on a stretcher bar or already in its frame. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing, preparing every canvas painting of ours for the journey this way. The frame itself is picked in our 3D application, built for that one decision; a view of the painting on your own wall is a different service.
When will Diego in My Thoughts reach me?
We start painting as soon as you confirm the order; within 15 to 45 working days the painting is finished and ready to travel. Before it leaves, you receive a photograph of it, and if you would like a change, we make it.
Parcels to addresses in Slovenia and the rest of the EU go through no customs, and our returns policy covers every order.
This self-portrait makes a fine gift for a lover of Mexican art, or for someone who always has a certain person on their mind. To let the recipient decide between a bedside size and a sofa size, a wall art voucher does the job.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original today?
In the private Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection in Mexico City.
Who is the small face on the forehead?
It is Diego Rivera, the Mexican muralist and the painter’s husband.
Is the painting printed?
No. Each one is a hand-painted copy, made with a brush and oil colours on canvas.
How big is the original?
It is 76 cm high and 61 cm wide; our nearest size is 58 x 70 cm.
Can you paint it in another size?
Yes, we paint it in the size you give us and tell you the price beforehand.
How long will I wait?
Painting takes 15 to 45 working days, then comes delivery, with no customs inside the EU.
Is it a good gift?
Very much so, especially for someone who loves Mexico, folk art or portraits with a story.
What is Tehuana dress?
The dress of the women of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico, which Kahlo liked to wear and paint.
- Subject: the painter in a white Tehuana lace headdress, with a wreath of flowers and a small portrait of Diego Rivera on her forehead.
- Original: 1943, oil on masonite, 76 x 61 cm, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, Mexico City.
- Ours: oil on canvas, painted by hand to order, in 8 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 140 x 180 cm or a size you choose.
- Worth knowing: the original is painted on hard board; yours is on canvas and comes rolled, stretched or framed.
