Description
Fruit of Life is a still life Frida Kahlo painted in 1953: two broad wedges of red watermelon lie on a dark ground, a bunch of green-and-yellow bananas and round fruits rise behind them, a white dove rests in front, and in the top left corner a sun with a human face blazes while red, branching lines spread from it across the whole surface. The original, oil on masonite, is 47 cm high and 62 cm wide and belongs to a private collection in Mexico. Our painter makes it for you hand-painted in oil colours on canvas, in one of two landscape sizes, 50 x 39 or 56 x 44 cm.
| Title: | Fruit of Life |
| Other titles: | Fruta de la vida · Frucht des Lebens |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1953 |
| Original size: | 47 cm x 62 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on masonite |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Private collection, Mexico |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 2 sizes or made to measure |
Fruit of Life – Frida Kahlo
What does Fruit of Life show?
The scene is wide and filled with fruit to the edges. Across the lower half stretches a large watermelon cut into two wedges: the juicy flesh is brick red and scattered with black seeds, with the dark green rind showing underneath.
Above the melon rises a bunch of bananas shading from green to yellow, with brown tips. A big round orange fruit lies to their left with a dark green one behind it, and on the right a reddish fruit with a pointed end almost touches the edge.
Below, right in front of the melon, lies a white dove painted in broad, thick strokes, its small head turned to the left; it is the brightest patch on the panel.
In the top left an orange-red sun shines with a face in which you can make out eyes, nose and mouth. Thin red lines run from it in every direction, branching like bare twigs; they cross the sky, the fruit and even the dark table.
A pale yellow disc glows in the top right, blue sky and white clouds fill the left of the background, a dotted green surface the right, and a short inscription in capital letters sits in the lower right corner.
What do we know about how this still life came about?
Kahlo painted it in 1953, in the last stage of her life. According to the English Wikipedia she was by then mostly confined to the Blue House in Coyoacán and painted chiefly still lifes of fruit and flowers, to which she added political symbols such as flags or doves.
The same source says her handling changed in these years too: brushstrokes that had been delicate and careful became hastier, her colour more brash, and the whole more intense and feverish. Here the dense red lines and the strong, saturated colours of the fruit show exactly that.
In April 1953 Lola Alvarez Bravo staged her first solo exhibition in Mexico, at the Galería Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City; Kahlo came by ambulance and spent the opening in her own bed, carried into the gallery for the occasion. That August her right leg was amputated at the knee because of gangrene.
Whether Fruit of Life hung in that exhibition our sources do not say, so we do not claim it.
Why does this late still life hold the eye?
Wikipedia says Kahlo drew on Mexican popular culture and mixed realism with fantasy, and this painting shows both: market-fresh melon and bananas below, a sun with a face and a red net above.
In her final years she wanted her art to serve her politics too; she had rejoined the Mexican Communist Party in 1948. The dove, one of the symbols Wikipedia names for her late still lifes, lies at the very front of this one.
There is more on the painter’s life in the Frida Kahlo article on the English Wikipedia; it is about the painter, and there is no separate article on this still life.
Where is the original kept?
The original belongs to a private collection in Mexico. We do not name the owner; year, technique, size and collection come from the list of Frida Kahlo’s works on the English Wikipedia.
Kahlo painted it in oil on masonite, a hard board of pressed wood fibres with a smooth face.
The hand-painted copy you order from us is made another way. The painter works on canvas, not on masonite, so we can ship it rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or already framed.
Fruit of Life or another Kahlo still life?
If her late still lifes appeal to you, look too at Viva la Vida (Watermelons) from 1954, which Wikipedia lists among her last works. Watermelons lead there too, so the two hang well side by side.
Our range also includes Still Life with Watermelons and Sun and Life, whose title already brings to mind the sun with a face in the left corner of this panel.
The title has a twin in Flower of Life: one speaks of the fruit, the other of the bloom. All the famous Frida Kahlo paintings we paint to order are on the Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter handle the melon, the dove and the sun?
The original sits on a smooth board, so the painter first prepares the canvas with several thin coats of primer, keeping the weave from breaking up the broad areas of fruit.
Next come the main colour fields, the dark brown table, the cloudy blue sky, the dotted green ground and the red melon flesh; black seeds, brown banana tips and the sun’s features follow with a fine brush.
The dove is built from layers of white touched with grey and yellow so the feathers keep their volume. The red branching lines come last, drawn with a steady hand over the dried ground so they stay thin and sharp.
What you get is a Frida Kahlo reproduction whose layers of oil paint you can see and feel, most of all in the thick strokes around the sun.
Which of the two sizes will fill your wall better?
In short: 50 x 39 cm for a kitchen, a dining nook or a narrow wall, 56 x 44 cm for the wall above a table, a sideboard or a sofa in a smaller room.
For Fruit of Life we offer only two landscape sizes (width x height): 50 x 39 cm and 56 x 44 cm. Both are smaller than the original, which measures 62 x 47 cm: the larger is 6 cm narrower and 3 cm lower, the smaller 12 cm narrower and 8 cm lower.
Fruit and warm reds feel at home in a kitchen or dining room. As a painting for the living room the larger size is the better pick, hung at eye level above the sofa or on the wall by the dining table.
Can I order a different size and a frame?
If you need other dimensions, send us the width and height you want. We reply with whether it can be made, a price and a lead time; we do not promise sizes beyond those offered.
The melon, bananas and dove can reach you rolled, stretched on a wooden stretcher bar or framed. Every canvas painting of this still life is stretched and framed by our workshop in Slovenia.
You choose the frame in our 3D app, which serves for frame choice only. If you would like to see Fruit of Life on a photo of your own wall, that is a separate service.
How soon will the painting reach you?
The painter starts once you confirm and finishes the still life within 15 to 45 working days. Before packing we send you a photograph of the finished painting; if you want a change, the painter makes it before dispatch.
Parcels to Slovenia and every other country of the European Union travel without customs formalities, and our returns policy applies to the order.
With its fruit and sun, it makes a welcome housewarming present or a gift for someone who loves Mexican art. If you cannot tell which size their wall needs, a wall art voucher lets them pick it themselves.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the 1953 original now?
In a private collection in Mexico; we do not name the owner.
Which fruits appear in it?
Watermelon, bananas, a round orange fruit, a dark green one and a reddish one.
Is your oil painting reproduction printed?
No. The painter applies it with brush and oil colours on canvas; no printer is involved.
How big is the panel Kahlo painted?
It is 47 cm high and 62 cm wide, so larger than both of our sizes.
Can I get a third size?
Write to us with the width and height; we check whether it is feasible and quote the price before you order.
How long does delivery take?
Painting takes 15 to 45 working days, then we ship; there is no customs duty within the EU.
Does it suit a kitchen or make a good gift?
Yes. Fruit and warm colours are made for a kitchen or dining room, and it is a lovely gift for a new home.
What does the dove mean?
Wikipedia says Kahlo added political symbols, doves among them, to her late still lifes; it gives no specific reading of this work.
- Subject: watermelon wedges, bananas and other fruit, a white dove, a sun with a face and red branching lines.
- Original: 1953, oil on masonite, 47 x 62 cm, private collection, Mexico.
- Ours: painted by hand in oil on canvas to your order, in two landscape sizes: 50 x 39 or 56 x 44 cm.
- Worth knowing: Both sizes are smaller than the original; the larger is 6 cm narrower and 3 cm lower.
