Description
Portrait of Alejandro Gómez Arias is a 1928 work by Frida Kahlo: a young man in a grey-green jacket, white shirt and dark tie looks calmly out at us from a warm, plain red-orange ground. Gómez Arias was her first love, and he was sitting beside her on the bus that a streetcar crashed into in 1925. The original, oil on wood, is 61.5 cm high and 41 cm wide and is in a private collection in Mexico. Our painter brings it onto canvas for you in oil colours, in one of 8 portrait sizes between 38 x 55 and 110 x 165 cm or made to measure; before it ships, you receive a photograph of the finished work.
| Title: | Portrait of Alejandro Gómez Arias |
| Other titles: | Retrato de Alejandro Gómez Arias · Porträt von Alejandro Gómez Arias |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1928 |
| Original size: | 61.5 cm x 41 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on wood |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Private collection, Mexico |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Portrait of Alejandro Gómez Arias – Frida Kahlo
What does Portrait of Alejandro Gómez Arias show?
The painting shows a young man at half length. His body is turned slightly to one side, while his face looks almost straight at the viewer. His short black hair is combed smoothly back, thick dark brows sit above his brown eyes, and his mouth is calmly closed.
He wears a grey-green jacket with broad lapels and a breast pocket. Beneath it are a dark waistcoat, a white shirt with a soft collar and an almost black tie, all painted in large, quiet areas of colour.
The background is a single field of warm red-orange, with no room, landscape or objects. Against it the green jacket and pale skin stand out, and the eye goes straight to the face.
At the upper right, a short dedication in Spanish is written in capital letters, beginning with the name Alex. It is part of the original, so our painter paints it too.
Who was Alejandro Gómez Arias?
In 1922 Frida Kahlo was accepted to the elite National Preparatory School. There she and some schoolmates formed an informal group called the Cachuchas: rebellious, staging plays and debating philosophy. Its leader was Alejandro Gómez Arias, who became her first love.
Her parents did not approve of the relationship. Because of the political unrest of the period the two were often apart, so they exchanged passionate love letters.
On 17 September 1925 they were travelling home from school together. They sat at the back of a crowded wooden bus when an electric streetcar crashed into its side. Gómez Arias escaped with minor injuries, while Kahlo was badly hurt, and the effects of the accident stayed with her for the rest of her life.
He remained by her side for more than a year of her recovery. In the early spring of 1927 he left for Europe, and shortly after returning that autumn he ended the relationship. The portrait followed a year later, once Kahlo was out of bed and back among her old school friends.
Why does this portrait matter?
Kahlo is known today for her self-portraits, but in her first years she mostly painted herself, her sisters and school friends. This portrait belongs to that early circle and shows the man who was with her at the moment that shaped her life.
Her early works and letters from this time show that she looked chiefly to European artists, to Renaissance masters such as Sandro Botticelli and Bronzino and to movements such as Neue Sachlichkeit and Cubism.
In the same year, 1928, Kahlo met Diego Rivera at a party given by the photographer Tina Modotti, and soon asked him to judge whether her work showed enough talent for a career as a painter. Rivera was impressed and wrote that it was obvious to him she was an authentic artist.
There is no separate Wikipedia article on this painting, but Gómez Arias and the accident are described in detail in the Wikipedia article on the painter Frida Kahlo (in English).
Where is the original?
The original is held in a private collection in Mexico. Kahlo did not paint it on canvas but in oil on a wooden support, in an upright format 61.5 cm high and 41 cm wide. Its proportions are exactly 2 : 3.
Our version is painted on canvas, which is lighter than wood and can be rolled for travel or stretched.
This portrait or another Kahlo?
This upright canvas painting is quiet and focused: one face, one field of colour, nothing extra. It suits a study, a hallway or the wall above a chest of drawers, where it is seen from close by.
Gómez Arias had received a painting from Kahlo before: in 1926 she gave him a self-portrait, which you will find with us as Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress.
The accident of 1925 is alluded to in The Bus of 1929. Two more portraits come from the same early period: Portrait of Miguel N. Lira shows her friend, and Portrait of Alicia Galant a pale young woman in a dark dress; both were painted in 1927.
From early portraits to late self-portraits, the famous Frida Kahlo paintings we paint to order are all on our Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter paint this portrait?
Here Kahlo worked in calm, flat areas of colour with clear outlines and a smooth surface without visible brushwork.
Our painter first lays in the red-orange ground and the base tones of the clothes in thin layers. Then the face takes shape: the yellowish skin, the shadow beside the nose and under the cheekbones, the pink lips, the brown eyes and the dark brows. Hair, white collar, tie and the folds of the jacket follow.
The dedication at the upper right comes last, letter by letter, with a fine brush. The result is a Frida Kahlo reproduction with paint lying in real layers, something a print cannot give you.
Like any oil painting reproduction, it shifts with the light, the red ground brighter by day and deeper under a lamp.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 38 x 55 or 42 x 65 cm for a narrow wall or above a desk, 54 x 81 or 60 x 92 cm above a chest of drawers, 69 x 100 or 80 x 115 cm above a sofa or a bed, and 100 x 145 or 110 x 165 cm for a tall wall or a stairwell.
We paint the portrait in 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 38 x 55, 42 x 65, 54 x 81, 60 x 92, 69 x 100, 80 x 115, 100 x 145 and 110 x 165 cm. Closest to the original is 42 x 65 cm, which is 1 cm wider and 3.5 cm taller.
Because a single face carries the whole painting, the small sizes feel like a private, family portrait, while the large ones become the focal point of a room. As a painting for the living room above a sofa, 69 x 100 or 80 x 115 cm works well.
Can I have another size or a frame?
As the original is in 2 : 3 proportion, we can paint it without cropping in a size that is not on the list. Tell us the width and height you want, and we reply with a price and a lead time.
The portrait travels rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed, and the stretching and framing happen in our workshop in Slovenia. The 3D app on our site serves only to pick a frame; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
How soon will the portrait reach me?
We start painting once you confirm the order, and after 15 to 45 working days the portrait is ready to ship. Before that we send you a photograph of the finished painting; if you would like something changed, we make the correction.
Parcels within Slovenia and the EU clear no customs, and our returns policy covers every order.
The portrait makes a fine gift for anyone drawn to Frida Kahlo’s life or to Mexican art of the 1920s. If you would rather they pick the size themselves, give them a wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original portrait kept?
In a private collection in Mexico; Kahlo painted it in oil on wood.
Who is the young man in the painting?
Alejandro Gómez Arias, leader of the school group called the Cachuchas and Frida Kahlo’s first love.
Is it a print or a poster?
No, you receive a hand-painted copy, brushed in oil colours onto canvas by our painter.
How big is the original?
It is 61.5 cm high and 41 cm wide; our nearest size is 42 x 65 cm.
Can I order it in a different size?
Yes, we can paint it to any width and height you name, and we quote the price before we start.
How long does it take?
15 to 45 working days, then we ship, with no customs inside the EU.
Is the portrait a good gift?
Yes, especially for admirers of Frida Kahlo and Mexican art; if you are unsure of the size, choose a voucher.
How is it linked to the 1925 accident?
Gómez Arias sat beside Kahlo on the bus when the streetcar hit it; he himself was only slightly hurt.
- Subject: Alejandro Gómez Arias, Frida Kahlo’s first love, in a green jacket against a red-orange ground.
- Original: 1928, oil on wood, 61.5 x 41 cm, private collection, Mexico.
- Ours: oil on canvas, hand-painted to your order, in 8 portrait sizes (38 x 55 to 110 x 165 cm) or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: in 1926 Kahlo gave him Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress; two years later she painted him.
