Description
Portrait of a Woman in White is a 1930 painting by Frida Kahlo in which a woman with short dark hair sits facing us squarely, wearing a long sleeveless white dress and white gloves that reach above the elbow. The original, oil on canvas, is 119 cm high and 81 cm wide and belongs to a private collection in Berlin. Our painter recreates it in oils on canvas in a single portrait-format size, 38 x 55 cm, which is much smaller than the original; before we ship it, we send you a photograph of the finished portrait.
| Title: | Portrait of a Woman in White |
| Other titles: | Retrato de una mujer de blanco · Porträt einer Frau in Weiß |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1930 |
| Original size: | 119 cm x 81 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Private collection, Berlin |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 1 sizes or made to measure |
Portrait of a Woman in White – Frida Kahlo
What does Portrait of a Woman in White show?
The woman sits upright and strictly frontal, her hands folded in her lap and her head tilted only slightly. Her dark hair is cut short and curled into small ringlets at the temples; on the right of the painting, behind her left ear, a red flower is tucked into it.
Her face is oval and calm: thick dark eyebrows, flushed cheeks, a small red mouth and eyes that meet ours.
The white dress has a deep, rounded neckline and no sleeves; a large soft bow gathers it at the waist, and the skirt spreads wide over her knees. Long white gloves cover her arms to above the elbow, and a necklace of small beads in warm orange tones circles her neck in several strands.
Above her head curves a dark, reddish-brown arch with rolled ends, and twisted gold cords finished with tassels hang down on either side. Behind her back runs a dark metal railing with scrolled ornaments, and above it lies a grey-blue background with no depth.
When and in what circumstances was it painted?
The year 1930 falls in the first months of her marriage to Diego Rivera, whom she had married in August 1929. At the end of 1929 the couple moved to Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos, where Rivera was painting the walls of the Palace of Cortés.
According to Wikipedia, Kahlo changed her style there and drew more and more on Mexican folk art; the art historian Andrea Kettenmann counts the lack of perspective among its traits. The flat, shallow background behind the woman in white fits that description, although the article does not mention this painting by name.
Late in 1930 the couple left for San Francisco, where Kahlo painted portraits of several new acquaintances. From the following year comes Portrait of Luther Burbank, which we also paint to order.
What sets this portrait apart from her other work?
Most of her paintings, Wikipedia notes, are self-portraits of relatively small size. This portrait differs on both counts: it does not show Kahlo herself, and at 119 cm high it is unusually large for her.
In these very years Kahlo began wearing the traditional clothing of Indigenous Mexican women, long colourful skirts, huipils and rebozos, to emphasise her mestiza ancestry. The woman in this painting is dressed quite differently, in a white dress of European cut, which gives the portrait an almost formal, official air.
Some features Wikipedia describes in her later self-portraits are already present here: the calm, almost motionless face, the strong eyebrows and the strictly frontal pose. For more on her life and work, read the English Wikipedia article on Frida Kahlo; Wikipedia has no separate article on this painting.
Where is the original today?
The original belongs to a private collection in Berlin rather than to a public museum.
Kahlo painted it in oil on canvas; it is 119 cm high and 81 cm wide. We took the year, technique, measurements and collection from the list of her paintings on English Wikipedia, which does not say how the portrait came to Germany.
Our hand-painted copy is also made in oil on canvas, the same support as the original, only at a much smaller size.
Portrait of a Woman in White or another Kahlo?
From the same year, 1930, comes Self-Portrait (1930), in which Kahlo painted herself; hung side by side, the two make a pair from a single year.
If her portraits of other women appeal to you, look also at Portrait of Alicia Galant from 1927. A year after this portrait she painted Frieda and Diego Rivera, a double portrait of the couple and, according to Wikipedia, the work with which she first took part in an exhibition.
From famous Frida Kahlo paintings to quiet early portraits like this one, everything we paint to order is on the Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter paint the white dress and gloves?
White is the hardest part of this painting, because the dress fills almost half the canvas. The painter does not lay it in with pure white but builds it from greys, bluish tints and warm cream tones that shape the folds, the bow and the swing of the skirt.
He lays in the dark background, the arch and the railing before the light areas of the figure. The railing and its scrolls are drawn with a fine brush; the gold cords and tassels are built up from small slanting strokes of yellow and ochre.
Face, neck and arms are painted in thin layers, from warm yellowish tones to the flushed cheeks and red lips. On the necklace each strand of beads is marked with dots of orange, then given tiny light highlights.
The result is an oil painting reproduction whose brushstrokes you can see up close, while from a few steps away the surface merges into a smooth, quiet whole. Each canvas painting we sell is made individually, for one customer.
Which wall suits the 38 x 55 cm size?
In short: we offer this portrait in one size only, 38 x 55 cm, which works best in a bedroom, a hallway or on a narrow stretch of wall.
The size is given as width x height. The original measures 81 x 119 cm (width x height), or 119 x 81 cm written as height x width, as in the table above; our painting is 43 cm narrower and 64 cm shorter, so a little under half its height and width.
The proportions stay almost the same as the original’s, so the composition is unchanged: the woman in white fills the centre, and the dark edges and the railing frame her on both sides.
As a painting for the living room it suits a smaller wall, a spot beside a window or a group of works of similar size.
Can I order a different size or a frame?
If you would like the portrait in another size, send us the width and height you want; we check whether it can be done and reply with the price and lead time. We cannot promise a larger size in advance.
The canvas comes rolled, stretched on a wooden stretcher bar or framed. Stretching and framing are done by our workshop in Slovenia, which prepares every painting in our range.
You choose the frame in our 3D app, which is for picking a frame and nothing else. Seeing the painting on a photo of your own wall is a separate service, apart from the app.
How long does it take, and how is it delivered?
Once you confirm the order, the painter finishes the portrait within 15 to 45 working days. Before packing we send you a photograph of the finished work; if you want a change, say to the tone of the dress, the painter makes it before dispatch.
Shipments to Slovenia or any other European Union country travel without customs. As with every order, our returns policy applies.
A Frida Kahlo reproduction like this one is a good gift for someone who loves Mexican art or the dresses of the 1930s. If you are not sure this particular portrait will please, give a gift voucher and let the recipient choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
It is in a private collection in Berlin, not in a public museum.
Who is the woman in the white dress?
Our sources do not give her name; the title describes her only by her white dress.
Is this a print?
No. The painter paints the portrait with brush and oil paint on canvas, with no printing involved.
How big is the original?
It is 119 cm high and 81 cm wide, much larger than our 38 x 55 cm.
Can I have it larger?
Send us the size you want; we check whether it can be painted and tell you the price.
How long will I wait for the portrait?
Painting takes 15 to 45 working days, then we ship the portrait, without customs within the EU.
Will it look good in a bedroom?
Yes, 38 x 55 cm sits well above a chest of drawers or beside the bed, and the white dress brightens the room.
What does the portrait mean?
Wikipedia does not interpret it; we see a woman in formal white, calm and composed.
- Subject: a woman with short dark hair in a long white dress, with white gloves and a multi-strand orange necklace, in front of a dark arch and a metal railing.
- Original: 1930, oil on canvas, 119 x 81 cm, private collection, Berlin.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas to your order, in one portrait-format size: 38 x 55 cm.
- Good to know: Our size is 43 cm narrower and 64 cm shorter than the original; the proportions stay almost the same.
