Description
Portrait of Doña Rosita Morillo shows an elderly woman with white hair, wrapped in a dark woollen shawl, knitting a length of red wool while a wild thicket of cactus, pink blossoms and reddish leaves crowds in behind her. The 1944 original, oil on canvas mounted on masonite, is 75.5 cm high and 59.5 cm wide and belongs to the Dolores Olmedo collection in Mexico City. Our painter makes it for you hand-painted in oil on canvas, in a single size of 40 x 49 cm, which is smaller than the original, and sends you a photograph of the finished painting before it ships.
| Title: | Portrait of Doña Rosita Morillo |
| Other titles: | Retrato de Doña Rosita Morillo · Porträt von Doña Rosita Morillo |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1944 |
| Original size: | 75.5 cm x 59.5 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas mounted on masonite |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Dolores Olmedo Collection (Museo Dolores Olmedo), Mexico City |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 1 sizes or made to measure |
Portrait of Doña Rosita Morillo – Frida Kahlo
What does Portrait of Doña Rosita Morillo show?
Doña Rosita sits on a chair facing us squarely, and we see her from head to lap. Her white hair is combed smoothly back, her face is sun-browned and lined, her eyelids are heavy and the corners of her mouth turn down, which gives her a serious, slightly weary look.
A gold hoop earring glints at her ear. She wears a black blouse with a row of small buttons, and a thick shawl in a dark purple-brown lies over her shoulders and elbows, ending in a fringe at the lower right.
Her hands fill the foreground. Between her fingers she holds two long, thin metal knitting needles and works a piece of red wool that falls across her skirt, while a red strand runs from the knitting towards the lower left edge.
Behind her shoulders rise the two dark, round knobs of the chair back. The background is completely overgrown: a tall, spiny columnar cactus climbs the left edge, green snake-like stems twist across the whole surface carrying pinkish-white star-shaped flowers, and between them grow large leaves in reds and oranges.
What do we know about how it came about?
Kahlo completed the portrait in 1944. Our sources say little about the sitter herself: the title names her Doña Rosita Morillo, doña being the Spanish courtesy title for a lady.
The English Wikipedia reports that in the 1940s Kahlo had regular private clients, among them the engineer Eduardo Morillo Safa, who ordered more than thirty portraits of family members from her over that decade. The surname matches, but whether Doña Rosita belonged to that family the article does not state outright, so we do not claim it.
Why does this portrait stand out among her works?
Wikipedia introduces Kahlo as the painter of many portraits, self-portraits and works inspired by the nature of Mexico. On this canvas two of those strands meet: at the centre sits someone who is not Kahlo herself, and Mexican plants grow thickly all around.
Look closely and the contrast soon appears: the calm, everyday knitting in front and a restless, almost wild tangle of spines, flowers and branches behind. We leave the reading of that contrast to you, since the Frida Kahlo article on the English Wikipedia does not offer one; it is about the painter, and there is no separate article on this painting.
Where is the original kept?
The original belongs to the Dolores Olmedo collection in Mexico City, which the Museo Dolores Olmedo presents to the public. Year, technique, size and collection are taken from the list of her works on the English Wikipedia; how the portrait entered that collection our sources do not describe.
Kahlo laid her oil colours on a canvas that is mounted on masonite, a hard board of pressed wood fibres. The work measures 75.5 cm in height and 59.5 cm in width.
The hand-painted copy of this portrait that you order from us is made in oil colours on ordinary canvas, without being glued to a board, so it can be stretched or framed like any other canvas.
Portrait of Doña Rosita Morillo or another Kahlo?
If the people Kahlo painted interest you more than her self-portraits, have a look at Portrait of Alicia Galant and Portrait of Dr. Leo Eloesser, which we also paint to order.
Plants like those around Doña Rosita often play a large part in her work. Portrait of Luther Burbank, from 1931, shows the horticulturist as a hybrid of human and plant, according to Wikipedia, while Roots was painted a year before this portrait, in 1943.
Our whole shelf of famous Frida Kahlo paintings, each one made to order, sits on the Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter handle the wrinkles, the knitting and the cactus?
In the original the brushwork is smooth and nearly invisible, the outlines are crisp, and the colours are strong and sharply set apart. Our painter therefore first smooths the canvas with several thin coats of primer, so the weave does not disturb the fine transitions in the face.
The background goes down first: the red and orange leaves, the green winding stems and the dark knobs of the chair. Only then, with a thin brush, come the spines on the columnar cactus, the grey branches at the top right and the pink flowers with their narrow petals.
The shawl is laid in with short, dense strokes of dark violet and brown so it reads as thick wool, and each needle is drawn as a single fine silver line. The result is a Frida Kahlo reproduction with real layers of oil paint, made separately for each order.
Which wall suits our size?
In short: the one size, 40 x 49 cm, is right for a bedroom, a hallway, the wall by a dining table or the space above a chest of drawers.
For Portrait of Doña Rosita Morillo we offer only one portrait-format size (width x height): 40 x 49 cm. It is smaller than the original, which measures about 60 x 76 cm: our painting is 19.5 cm narrower and 26.5 cm shorter.
The proportions are almost those of the original, with ours a touch wider. If you choose a frame 5 cm wide on each side, the painting will take up about 50 x 59 cm on the wall. As a painting for the living room it suits a narrow stretch of wall, between two windows or beside a door.
Is another size possible, and which frame should I choose?
We do not list a second size for this portrait. If you would like a different one, send us the width and height you have in mind; we check whether it can be done and reply with a price and a lead time.
Doña Rosita can reach you rolled, stretched on a wooden stretcher bar or already framed. Stretching and framing are done by our workshop in Slovenia, which prepares every canvas painting in our range the same way.
The frame for this portrait is chosen in our 3D app, which exists for frame choice only. Seeing the painting on a photo of your own wall is a separate service and is not part of the app.
How long does it take, and how is it delivered?
Once you confirm the order, the painter starts on the portrait and finishes it within 15 to 45 working days. Before packing we send you a photograph of the finished Doña Rosita; if you would like a change, the painter makes it before the painting leaves us.
Parcels to Slovenia and the other EU countries carry no customs duty and need no customs forms, and our returns policy applies to every order.
This portrait makes a thoughtful present for a grandmother, a mother or anyone who loves to knit, and for admirers of Mexican art too. If you are unsure whether it will suit the recipient’s wall, give a wall art voucher instead and let them choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original portrait?
In the Dolores Olmedo collection in Mexico City, shown by the Museo Dolores Olmedo.
What is the woman in the painting doing?
She sits on a chair knitting a piece of red wool on two needles, with flowering cactus growing behind her.
Is this oil painting reproduction a print?
No. The painter lays your Doña Rosita onto the canvas with a brush, layer by layer; nothing about it is printed.
How big is the 1944 original?
It is 75.5 cm high and 59.5 cm wide, so clearly larger than our 40 x 49 cm size.
Can I order a larger size?
Only one size is listed. For another, write to us; we tell you whether it is feasible and what it costs.
How long will I wait for the painting?
Painting takes 15 to 45 working days, after which the parcel travels within the EU free of customs.
Will the portrait look good in a bedroom or as a gift?
Yes. The 40 x 49 cm size sits well above a bedside table or chest of drawers, and the warm reds make the room feel homely.
What do the cactus plants around Doña Rosita mean?
Wikipedia does not explain them; it only notes that Kahlo liked to paint the nature of Mexico. We leave the meaning to your eye.
- Subject: an elderly woman with white hair and a dark shawl knits red wool before a thicket of cactus, pink blossoms and red leaves.
- Original: 1944, oil on canvas mounted on masonite, 75.5 x 59.5 cm, Dolores Olmedo collection, Mexico City.
- Ours: painted by hand in oil on canvas, made to your order, in one portrait-format size: 40 x 49 cm.
- Worth knowing: Our size is smaller than the original: 19.5 cm narrower and 26.5 cm shorter.
