Description
My Grandparents, My Parents, and I is a family tree Frida Kahlo painted in 1936: her grandparents’ portraits float in clouds at the top, her parents stand in the middle as if posing for their wedding portrait, and below them Kahlo as a small child, in the courtyard of a blue house, holds a red ribbon that ties the whole family together. The original, oil and tempera on zinc, is only 30.7 cm high and 34.5 cm wide and belongs to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Our painter paints it for you in oil colours on canvas, in one of 8 almost square landscape sizes from 50 x 45 to 190 x 175 cm or made to measure; before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting.
| Title: | My Grandparents, My Parents, and I |
| Other titles: | Mis abuelos, mis padres y yo (Árbol genealógico) · Family Tree |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1936 |
| Original size: | 30.7 cm x 34.5 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil and tempera on zinc |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
My Grandparents, My Parents, and I – Frida Kahlo
What does My Grandparents, My Parents, and I show?
The composition is laid out like a pedigree chart, read from top to bottom. Top left, on a white cloud, float portraits of a dark-haired man with a goatee and a woman with a high white collar and an earring. Top right, on a second cloud, are a woman with dark hair drawn back and a lace collar, and an older man with a sweeping white moustache and a bow tie.
A red ribbon drops from each cloud. The left one runs down on the mother’s side, the right one on the father’s, so it is clear which couple belongs to which branch of the family. In the centre stand the parents, as if posing for a wedding portrait: the mother in a white dress with puffed sleeves, a ruffled collar and flowers in her hair, the father in a black suit with a white bow tie, a moustache and a white flower in his buttonhole.
On the mother’s white dress an unborn child is drawn, linked by a thin red cord. Beneath the parents, in the courtyard of a house with blue walls, stands Kahlo as a small child, holding the red ribbon that binds both branches together.
Behind the figures a landscape opens out: brown hills and cacti with oval pads on the left, a flat dark plain running to the horizon on the right, and the low houses of a small town at the bottom right.
What is the story behind this family tree?
Frida Kahlo was born in 1907 in Coyoacán, on the edge of Mexico City. Her father, Guillermo Kahlo, was a photographer who had emigrated from Germany in 1891. Her mother, Matilde Calderón y González, was born in Oaxaca; according to English Wikipedia, her own father was Indigenous and her mother of Spanish descent.
So two very different lines meet on this small panel, one European and one Mexican. Wikipedia notes that her work explored questions of identity, class and race in Mexican society, and this is one of its most direct examples: instead of symbols, it shows the faces of real people.
When it was painted, her mother was no longer alive; she had died in 1932.
In the 1930s Kahlo painted mainly small works on metal, on tin sheets from 1932, and her style leaned on retablos, the small votive panels she collected.
Why does this work matter?
Most famous Frida Kahlo paintings are self-portraits, yet here the artist shows herself differently: not as a grown woman but as the youngest link in a chain that begins with four grandparents.
The work makes visible what Wikipedia says about her background: a German father and a mestiza mother.
For more on her life, family and style, read the English Wikipedia article on Frida Kahlo; it has no separate entry for this painting.
Where is the original kept?
The original is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
Kahlo painted it in oil and tempera on a zinc plate.
A print stays flat and shows no brush marks; our hand-painted copy has real layers of paint that catch a raking light.
This painting or another Kahlo?
This canvas painting is almost square and held in warm earth tones, with the white of the wedding dress as a bright point in the centre.
If the themes of doubling and origins draw you, look at The Two Fridas from 1939. A double portrait with her husband is Frieda and Diego Rivera, painted in San Francisco in 1931.
From the same decade comes Four Inhabitants of Mexico City of 1938, and a little later, in 1940, she painted Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird.
Every Frida Kahlo reproduction we paint to order is listed on our Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter paint the family tree?
The original is painted on zinc; our painter transfers it to canvas in oil colours. Because the source is so small, he has to enlarge every detail, and the tiny faces gain room and clarity on canvas.
First he divides the surface into three bands: the clouds with the grandparents, the parents, and the lower part with the house and landscape. Then he lays on, in thin layers, the flat colours Kahlo used: brown earth, grey-blue sky, white dress, the father’s dark suit.
He paints the faces slowly with a fine brush, since each must keep its own character, from the stern gaze of the old man with the white moustache to the calm face of the mother.
He keeps the surface smooth, without thick paint, close to the quiet look of the metal support. The result is an oil painting reproduction you can see and feel as real paint.
Which size suits which wall?
In short: 50 x 45 or 59 x 50 cm above a bedside table, in a hallway or a home office; 75 x 65 or 85 x 72 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk; 110 x 99 or 130 x 110 cm above a sofa; 165 x 145 or 190 x 175 cm for a large wall or a stairwell.
There are 8 sizes (width x height): 50 x 45, 59 x 50, 75 x 65, 85 x 72, 110 x 99, 130 x 110, 165 x 145 and 190 x 175 cm. All of them are larger than the original, which measures 34.5 x 30.7 cm; even the smallest is 15.5 cm wider and 14.3 cm taller.
As a painting for the living room above a sofa, 110 x 99 and 130 x 110 cm work well, because the almost square format fills the wall without running too long.
Can I order another size and a frame?
The original is only slightly wider than it is tall, so we can easily paint it in a size that is not on the list. Tell us the width and height you need, and we will send you a quote for your family tree with the price and the painting time.
You can receive it rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. As with every work we ship, our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing.
You pick the frame for the four grandparents and the wedding couple in our 3D app, which is for choosing frames only; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
How long will I wait, and how does it reach me?
Once you confirm, the painter starts work, and the family tree is ready in 15 to 45 working days.
Before we pack it we send you a photograph of the finished painting; if you would like something changed, we make the correction before dispatch.
Shipments to Slovenia and the other EU countries clear no customs, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
It makes a fine gift for a parents’ wedding anniversary or for grandparents. If you are unsure which size suits their wall, give a wall art voucher and let them choose.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns the original?
The 1936 family tree belongs to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
Who are the people in it?
At the top the artist’s four grandparents, in the middle her parents as a bridal couple, at the bottom Kahlo as a small child.
Is it a print?
No. The painter paints each one by brush in oil colours on canvas.
How large is the original?
It is 30.7 cm high and 34.5 cm wide, so every size we offer is larger.
Can I get it in a different size?
Yes, we paint it in the width and height you choose and tell you the price first.
How soon will it arrive?
Painting takes 15 to 45 working days, then shipping follows, customs-free within the EU.
Is it a good gift?
Yes, especially for parents or grandparents who care about family history.
What does the red ribbon mean?
It links the grandparents to the parents and to the artist, drawing the family tree.
- Subject: a family tree: grandparents on clouds, the parents as a bridal couple, Kahlo as a small child with a red ribbon.
- Original: 1936, oil and tempera on zinc, 30.7 x 34.5 cm, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.
- Ours: oil on canvas, hand-painted after you order; 8 sizes from 50 x 45 to 190 x 175 cm or a size of your choice.
- Worth knowing: The original is smaller than any of our sizes, so on canvas the tiny faces are far easier to see.
