Description
Fulang-Chang and I is a small painting from 1937 in which Frida Kahlo shows herself with long dark hair, a black spider monkey sitting close beside her and tied to her by a pale pink ribbon, while broad green leaves and white, shaggy plants rise behind them both. The original, oil on masonite, is 40 cm high and 28 cm wide and belongs to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Our painter carries it over onto canvas for you in oil colours, in a single size, 38 x 55 cm, and before it is shipped we send you a photograph of the finished piece.
| Title: | Fulang-Chang and I |
| Other titles: | Fulang-Chang y yo · Fulang-Chang und ich |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1937 |
| Original size: | 40 cm x 28 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on masonite |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 1 sizes or made to measure |
Fulang-Chang and I – Frida Kahlo
What can you see in Fulang-Chang and I?
Kahlo painted herself almost head-on, her face in a warm, rosy brown. Her thick brows meet above the nose in one unbroken dark line, her lips are a bright red, and the faint dark shadow above them is left in plain view.
Her hair is parted in the middle, combed smoothly back and let down over her left shoulder in a long, glossy fall that reaches almost to the bottom edge. A pale pink ribbon is woven into it; one loop shows behind her ear, another lower down among the strands on her chest.
In the lower right corner, just in front of her shoulder, sits a spider monkey with black fur, a dark face and a paler, yellowish-brown belly. Its round eyes look straight out of the painting, exactly as hers do.
The same pink ribbon that comes out of her hair runs downwards and wraps around the monkey’s neck.
Plants fill the background. Above and to the right spread large grey-green leaves with wavy edges, while to the left and right rise white, shaggy masses of long thin fibres that recall hairy cacti. In the lower left corner a small painted inscription gives the title and the year 1937.
Who is Fulang-Chang, and when was the painting made?
Fulang-Chang is the name of the spider monkey sitting next to the artist, and the title gives the animal first place.
From January 1937, Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia Sedova lived at the Blue House in Coyoacán, and in the same year Kahlo also painted a self-portrait dedicated to Trotsky.
Wikipedia describes 1937 and 1938 as extremely productive years: she painted more than in all eight previous years of her marriage to Diego Rivera combined.
Why does this small painting have so many admirers?
Among the symbols from Aztec mythology that Kahlo liked to bring into her paintings, Wikipedia lists monkeys, along with skeletons, skulls, blood and hearts. The monkey here is no side detail: it takes up almost a quarter of the surface and is bound to the artist by the ribbon.
According to the same article, in most of her self-portraits her face stays still like a mask, while the objects and creatures around it carry the meaning. Fulang-Chang and I is a clear case: the face gives away no feeling, the ribbon, the monkey and the plants do the telling.
In the 1940s the artist lived among many animals at the Blue House, including spider monkeys, Xoloitzcuintli dogs and parrots, as the Frida Kahlo article on the English Wikipedia relates. That article is about the painter; there is no separate article on this painting.
Where can you see the original?
The original is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which most people know simply as MoMA. It is a modest piece: 40 cm high and 28 cm wide, a little smaller than a sheet of A3 paper.
Kahlo did not paint it on canvas but on masonite, a hard board of pressed wood fibres with a perfectly smooth surface. Year, technique, size and museum come from the list of her paintings on the English Wikipedia, which does not say how the work reached New York.
The hand-painted copy you order from us is made on canvas, not on board.
Fulang-Chang and I, or a different Kahlo?
From the same year, 1937, comes Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky, in which the artist holds a letter bearing a written dedication.
The monkey keeps coming back in her work. A year later she painted Self-Portrait with Monkey (1938), and in 1942 Self-Portrait with Monkey and Parrot, where a green parrot keeps her company on the other side.
The name Fulang-Chang also turns up on our page for Two Nudes in a Forest, painted in 1939.
Our Frida Kahlo page brings together the famous Frida Kahlo paintings you can order from us, from still lifes with fruit to self-portraits.
How does our painter handle the hair, the fur and the white plants?
Because masonite is smooth, the original is painted in thin, even layers with no weave showing through. To keep our version similarly smooth, the painter brushes several thin coats of ground colour over the canvas before starting.
The dark areas of hair and fur and the pale masses of the plants go down first; only then is the face built up in several thin layers: the warm skin, the red lips and the joined brows.
The hair gets long, flowing strokes from a narrow brush, with lighter touches set between them so the strands shine. The monkey’s fur is made of tiny short strokes, its paler belly of warm browns and ochres.
The most patient part of the work is the white, shaggy plants in the background: each fibre is a separately drawn fine white or greyish line. Layer by layer this becomes a Frida Kahlo reproduction whose oil brushstrokes you can see and feel on the surface.
Which size works on your wall?
In short: this painting comes in one size only, 38 x 55 cm, which looks best on a narrower wall where you see it from close up.
We offer it in a single portrait size (width x height): 38 x 55 cm. That is larger than the original, which measures 28 x 40 cm (width x height), or 40 x 28 cm if, as in the table above, the height is given first. Our painting is 10 cm wider and 15 cm taller.
The proportions stay almost unchanged, roughly 7 : 10.
The 38 x 55 cm size suits a bedroom above the bedside table, a hallway, a work corner or the wall beside a bookcase. As a painting for the living room it works best grouped with other small pieces.
Can I order a different size or a frame?
If you would rather have the monkey portrait in another size, send us the width and height through our paintings made to order page. The source is small, so we first check whether that size is possible.
You can receive the painting rolled, stretched on a wooden stretcher bar or already framed. Stretching and framing are done by our workshop in Slovenia, where every canvas painting we send out is prepared.
Which frame should surround Fulang-Chang and its owner is up to you in our 3D app, built for that choice alone. A preview of Fulang-Chang and I on a photo of your own wall is offered as a separate service.
How long does it take, and how is it delivered?
Once you confirm the order, the painter needs 15 to 45 working days for the portrait with Fulang-Chang. Before we pack it, we send you a photograph of the finished painting, and any changes you ask for are made before dispatch.
Parcels to addresses in Slovenia and the rest of the European Union travel without customs procedures, and our returns policy applies to every purchase.
As a present, this small painting is a good choice for someone who loves animals, Mexican art or Kahlo herself. If you would rather let them choose, give a wall art voucher in place of the painting.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the original hang?
At the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
Which animal sits beside the artist?
A black spider monkey, which the title names Fulang-Chang.
Is it a print or an oil painting reproduction?
It is painted by hand with a brush in oil on canvas; nothing about it is printed.
How big is the original?
It is 40 cm high and 28 cm wide, so smaller than our 38 x 55 cm size.
Can I get it in another size?
Tell us the size you want; we check whether it can be painted and send you an offer.
How long will I wait for my parcel?
Our painter needs 15 to 45 working days for Fulang-Chang and I; within the EU it then travels without customs.
Does it suit a bedroom or a home office?
Yes. The small upright format looks good above a bed or a desk.
What does the ribbon between the artist and the monkey mean?
Wikipedia gives no specific reading of this painting; all you can see is that one ribbon joins her hair and the monkey’s neck.
- Subject: Frida Kahlo with long dark hair and a black spider monkey, linked by a pink ribbon, in front of green leaves and white plants.
- Original: 1937, oil on masonite, 40 x 28 cm, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas, made to your order, in one portrait size: 38 x 55 cm.
- Worth knowing: Our size is larger than the original, 10 cm wider and 15 cm taller, with almost the same proportions.
