Description
Portrait of Alicia Galant is an early work by Frida Kahlo from 1927: a pale young woman in a dark, low-necked dress sits in a grey-blue armchair, while stylised plants rise out of the dark ground behind her. The original, oil on canvas, is 107 cm high and 93 cm wide and is held by the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil colours on canvas, in one of 8 portrait sizes between 43 x 47 and 102 x 122 cm or made to measure; before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished painting.
| Title: | Portrait of Alicia Galant |
| Other titles: | Retrato de Alicia Galant · Porträt von Alicia Galant |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1927 |
| Original size: | 107 cm x 93 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico City |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Portrait of Alicia Galant – Frida Kahlo
What does Portrait of Alicia Galant show?
A young woman sits almost square to us, shown down to the hips. Her face is pale, with pink cheeks, thin lips and grey-blue eyes that look past us into the distance. Her light-brown hair is cut short and combed flat to the head, ending in a point on her forehead.
Her neck is unusually long and slender, which gives the figure a calm, almost sculptural bearing. She wears a dark plum-coloured dress with a deep round neckline, edged with one red and one olive-brown band. The same bands return at the cuffs, and on the bodice and sleeves the fabric catches the light in pale lilac strokes.
She is seated in an upholstered grey-blue armchair whose broad arms enclose her on both sides. Her hands rest in her lap, and at the right edge, right beside her fingers, a red flower appears, the one truly vivid colour in the lower part of the canvas.
The background is dark brown, almost black. On the right, stylised plants with round leaves grow on thin, lightly outlined stems; on the left there is a small drawn flower, and near the top a few tiny points of light like stars.
How did this early portrait come about?
Frida Kahlo began to paint after a serious accident on 17 September 1925, when she was eighteen. Her bus home from school collided with a streetcar; her injuries left her in pain for the rest of her life and kept her in bed for months.
Her mother had a special easel made so that she could paint lying down, and her father lent her his oil paints. A mirror was fixed above the easel so she could see herself. Most of what she painted in this period were portraits of herself, her sisters and her school friends.
Portrait of Alicia Galant is dated 1927; by the end of that year her long bed rest was over. Our sources say nothing about the sitter beyond the name in the title, so we do not guess.
Two years later, in 1929, she married the muralist Diego Rivera and moved with him to Cuernavaca. There she changed her style and drew more and more on Mexican folk art, so this portrait shows the painter just before that turn.
Why does this portrait matter to Kahlo lovers?
Most people know Frida Kahlo from self-portraits in colourful Mexican dress. This painting shows where she started: quieter, darker and closely tied to the European painting she was studying at the time.
Her early paintings and letters show that she drew inspiration above all from European artists, in particular the Renaissance masters Sandro Botticelli and Bronzino, and from avant-garde movements such as the New Objectivity and Cubism. Her very first works, from the mid-1920s, also show the influence of Amedeo Modigliani.
Estimates of how many paintings Kahlo made range from fewer than 150 to around 200. The Wikipedia article on the painter (in English) tells more about her life and work.
Where is the original?
The original is in Mexico City, at the Museo Dolores Olmedo. It is oil on canvas, 107 cm high and 93 cm wide.
Most of her works are fairly small self-portraits; at over a metre tall, this one is noticeably larger.
Portrait of Alicia Galant or another Kahlo?
This canvas painting is dark and quiet, with a single pale face at the centre of the composition. It wants a lighter wall and a quiet room: a bedroom, a reading corner or a dining room.
If early Kahlo appeals to you, the closest relative is Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress from 1926, with the same long neck and dark dress. From the same year as this portrait comes Portrait of Miguel N. Lira, and a year later she painted her school-days boyfriend in Portrait of Alejandro Gómez Arias.
For a contrast with the mature Kahlo, look at The Two Fridas, where two figures of the painter are joined by a single vein. Early or late, all the famous Frida Kahlo paintings we offer are collected on the Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter paint this portrait?
The original is oil on canvas, just like ours, so our painter works on the same kind of support, in oils, layer by layer, keeping the soft, almost velvety surface of the dress.
First come the dark brown ground and the outline of the seated figure, then the grey-blue armchair and the dark dress. The pale lilac lights on the dress stay as visible brushstrokes.
The last hours belong to the face, its pink cheeks, thin lips and grey-blue gaze; then come the red and olive bands, the small plants and the red flower by the hand.
The result is a Frida Kahlo reproduction with real depth of colour, which you can read stroke by stroke from close up. A print cannot do that, because a machine only lays the colour on the surface.
Being real canvas, it can be rolled or stretched, and like every oil painting reproduction it looks different in daylight than under a lamp in the evening.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 43 x 47 or 46 x 55 cm for a narrow wall, 54 x 65 or 64 x 76 cm above a chest of drawers, 72 x 85 or 80 x 96 cm above a bed or sofa, and 90 x 107 or 102 x 122 cm for a large wall.
We paint the portrait in 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 43 x 47, 46 x 55, 54 x 65, 64 x 76, 72 x 85, 80 x 96, 90 x 107 and 102 x 122 cm. Closest to the original is 90 x 107 cm, the same height but 3 cm narrower.
As a painting for the living room above a sofa, 80 x 96 and 90 x 107 cm work best; the smaller sizes suit a bedroom or a hallway.
Can I order another size or a frame?
The original is roughly 7 : 8 in proportion, so we can paint it in a size that is not on the list without cutting off the hands, the armchair or the plants on the right. Write to us with the width and height you want, and we reply with a price and a delivery time.
We ship it rolled in a tube, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed, and our workshop in Slovenia stretches and frames every painting we send.
Frames are picked in our 3D app, used for nothing but that choice; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
When will the portrait arrive?
Once you confirm the order our painter starts work, and within 15 to 45 working days the portrait is ready to ship. Before we pack it we send you a photograph of the finished painting, and if you want a change, we make it.
Parcels to Slovenia and every other EU country clear no customs, and our returns policy covers every order.
A portrait of a young woman in a dark dress makes a fine gift for someone who loves Kahlo but knows only her self-portraits. Unsure of their wall? A wall art voucher leaves the size to them.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
At the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City.
Who is the woman in the painting?
The title names her Alicia Galant; our sources say nothing more about her.
Is this a printed copy?
No, you receive a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas, built up layer by layer.
How big is the original?
It is 107 cm high and 93 cm wide; our nearest size is 90 x 107 cm.
Can I have it in a different size?
Yes, we paint it to the size you give us and quote the price first.
How long does it take?
15 to 45 working days, then the parcel travels within the EU without customs.
Does it suit a bedroom?
Yes, the calm dark tones and the quiet gaze sit well in a bedroom or a reading corner.
Why is the painting so dark?
In her early work Kahlo looked to European masters; the bright Mexican colours came later.
- Subject: a pale young woman in a dark dress sits in a grey-blue armchair before a dark ground with stylised plants.
- Original: 1927, oil on canvas, 107 x 93 cm, Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico City.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas to your order, in 8 portrait sizes (43 x 47 to 102 x 122 cm) or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: one of the early portraits Kahlo painted before she turned to Mexican folk art.
