Description
Portrait of Dr. Leo Eloesser is a painting Frida Kahlo made in San Francisco in 1931: a doctor in a dark suit stands beside a table carrying a model sailing ship, with a drawing on the wall. The original, oil on masonite, is 85.1 cm high and 59.7 cm wide and belongs to the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco. Our painter recreates it for you by hand in oil colours on canvas, in one of 8 portrait sizes between 38 x 55 and 110 x 152 cm or made to measure; you receive a photograph of the finished painting before we dispatch it.
| Title: | Portrait of Dr. Leo Eloesser |
| Other titles: | Retrato de Dr. Leo Eloesser · Porträt von Dr. Leo Eloesser |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1931 |
| Original size: | 85.1 cm x 59.7 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on masonite |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | University of California, School of Medicine, San Francisco |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Portrait of Dr. Leo Eloesser – Frida Kahlo
What does Portrait of Dr. Leo Eloesser show?
A man stands before us at full length, turned slightly to one side, and looks out calmly. He wears a dark suit, a high white collar and a dark red tie. Short dark hair and a moustache frame a pale, almost pink face that stands out sharply against the dark tones around it.
His right hand rests on the edge of the table, and his left is pushed into his trouser pocket. On the grey-green tabletop stands a two-masted model ship with white sails and a red hull. The sails are the brightest area of the painting and catch the eye straight after the face.
On the right, a framed drawing in pale yellow hangs on the wall, its outlines sketched in thin dark lines. The wall and floor are a warm, unadorned brown, so everything turns on the man, the ship and the drawing.
The perspective is simplified: the tabletop tilts towards the viewer and the floor rises towards the wall.
Who was Dr. Leo Eloesser, and how was the portrait made?
Leo Eloesser was a San Francisco doctor. Kahlo painted him in 1931, during the six months she spent in the city, where she and Diego Rivera had moved in late 1930 after the muralist finished a commission in Cuernavaca.
In San Francisco Rivera painted murals for the Luncheon Club of the city’s Stock Exchange and for the California School of Fine Arts, and influential collectors and clients courted the couple.
Those six months were productive for her. She developed further the folk art style she had taken up in Cuernavaca and painted portraits of several new acquaintances; this one of the doctor with his model ship is among them.
Why does this portrait stand out in Kahlo’s work?
Most of her paintings are self-portraits of fairly small size. Here, by contrast, a man stands at full length, and the original is more than 85 cm tall.
In the 1930s her style owed much to votive paintings, or retablos: small religious works by amateur painters in which the figures take centre stage and the background stays plain, without realistic perspective. A similar approach can be seen in this portrait: a calmly standing figure, a bare wall and only a few objects.
For more on her life and work, see the Wikipedia article about Frida Kahlo (in English); this painting has no article of its own.
Where is the original, and what is it painted on?
The original is owned by the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco.
Kahlo painted it in oil on masonite, a rigid board of pressed wood fibre, 85.1 cm high and 59.7 cm wide. Our version is painted on canvas, so it can also travel rolled, which a rigid board could not.
If you will not be travelling to California, a hand-painted copy is the simplest way to have this portrait on your own wall.
Portrait of Dr. Leo Eloesser or another Kahlo work?
This canvas painting is upright, restrained and darker than most of her self-portraits: brown, grey and dark green dominate, lit only by the white sails and the red hull. It goes well with wood, leather and bookshelves, so it suits a home office, a library, a doctor’s practice or a hallway.
From the same year and the same city comes Portrait of Luther Burbank, which shows the horticulturist as a hybrid between a human and a plant. Also painted in San Francisco in 1931 is the double portrait Frieda and Diego Rivera, with which Kahlo first took part in an exhibition.
Nine years later she dedicated a self-portrait to the same doctor: Self-Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser dates from 1940. Her husband appears in Portrait of Diego Rivera from 1937. Browse further famous Frida Kahlo paintings that our painters make to order on the Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter paint the doctor and the ship?
The original is on masonite, a smooth, hard surface, while ours is painted on canvas. The painter therefore lays the first coat thinly and evenly, so that the weave barely shows through the paint and the surface stays calm.
He first blocks in the brown wall, the floor and the outline of the figure, then builds up the dark suit in layers, keeping its folds quiet. The moustached face, the white collar and the hand on the table get several layers and soft transitions.
The model ship needs a steady hand: straight masts, the small round shapes running along them, white sails with light shadows and the red hull. Last comes the drawing on the wall, its thin lines pulled with a fine brush.
The result is a Frida Kahlo reproduction built from real layers of paint, which no print has. Each oil painting reproduction we make is painted for one customer only.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 38 x 55 or 45 x 65 cm for a narrow wall or a hallway, 51 x 75 or 60 x 82 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk, 65 x 95 or 77 x 107 cm above a sofa or a bed, and 95 x 140 or 110 x 152 cm for a tall wall or a stairwell.
There are 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 38 x 55, 45 x 65, 51 x 75, 60 x 82, 65 x 95, 77 x 107, 95 x 140 and 110 x 152 cm. Closest to the original is 60 x 82 cm, which is 0.3 cm wider and 3.1 cm shorter; 65 x 95 cm is 5.3 cm wider and 9.9 cm taller than the original.
As a painting for the living room above the sofa, 65 x 95 and 77 x 107 cm work well. With the man shown at full length, the two largest sizes, 95 x 140 and 110 x 152 cm, are best kept for rooms with high ceilings.
Can I order it made to measure and framed?
The original is roughly 7 : 10 in proportion, so we can also paint it in sizes not on the list without cropping the ship or the shoes. Send us the width and height you have in mind, and we reply with a price and a delivery time.
Your portrait of the doctor leaves us rolled, on a stretcher bar or in a frame, and our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing. You pick the frame in our 3D app, which is meant for choosing frames only; viewing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
When will the painting reach me?
After you confirm, the painter starts work, and the painting is ready to ship within 15 to 45 working days. Before it leaves, we send you a photograph of the finished painting; if you would like something changed, the painter does it.
Shipments to Slovenia and every other EU country go without customs formalities, and our returns policy applies to every order.
A portrait of a doctor makes a thoughtful gift for a physician, for the opening of a new practice or for someone who loves sailing. If you would rather leave the size to the recipient, give a wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original now?
At the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco.
Who is the man in the painting?
Leo Eloesser, a San Francisco doctor, standing beside a table with a model sailing ship.
Will I get a print?
No, the painter paints the portrait with a brush and oil colours on canvas, layer by layer.
How large is the original?
85.1 cm high and 59.7 cm wide; our nearest size is 60 x 82 cm.
Can you paint it in my own size?
Yes, in the width and height you want; we tell you the price before you order.
How long will I wait?
Expect 15 to 45 working days of painting; inside the EU there are no customs to clear.
Does it suit a practice or a home office?
Yes, its quiet browns and the standing doctor suit rooms where people work.
Why is there a ship on the table?
Our sources do not explain it; the ship and the drawing are objects Kahlo placed beside the doctor.
- Subject: the doctor Leo Eloesser in a dark suit beside a table with a model sailing ship, a drawing on the wall.
- Original: 1931, oil on masonite, 85.1 x 59.7 cm, University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas for you, in 8 portrait sizes (38 x 55 to 110 x 152 cm) or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: It was painted during Kahlo’s six months in San Francisco, when she portrayed new acquaintances.
