Description
Portrait of Luther Burbank is a painting Frida Kahlo made in San Francisco in 1931: the horticulturist Luther Burbank stands in a landscape as half man and half tree, holding a large-leaved plant, while underground the roots of his trunk wrap around a body lying in the earth. The original, oil on masonite, is 87 cm high and 62 cm wide and belongs to the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City. Our painter recreates it for you by hand in oil colours on canvas, in one of 8 portrait sizes between 38 x 55 and 130 x 185 cm or made to measure, and before it leaves we send you a photograph of the finished work.
| Title: | Portrait of Luther Burbank |
| Other titles: | Retrato de Luther Burbank · Porträt von Luther Burbank |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1931 |
| Original size: | 87 cm x 62 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on masonite |
| 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 Luther Burbank – Frida Kahlo
What does Portrait of Luther Burbank show?
At the centre stands an elderly man with white hair, in a dark suit and a white shirt. His face is calm, and he looks straight out at the viewer.
In both hands he holds a plant with large, wavy-edged leaves; some are dark green, others pale, almost white, and on every one the veins stand out clearly. A long stem curves down beside him and ends in a tuft of fine white roots hanging loose in the air.
Below the waist the figure is no longer human: the dark suit turns into a trunk of grey-brown bark that sinks into the ground. Seen as if in cross-section, thick roots run through the dark red earth and wrap around an outstretched body with a visible skull and ribs.
Behind him brown hills roll away, a small fruit tree with yellow fruit stands on each side, and above the land stretches a blue sky with heavy grey and white clouds. Along the bottom edge Burbank’s name is written in thin lettering.
How did the painting come about in San Francisco?
After Diego Rivera finished a commission in Cuernavaca in late 1930, he and Frida Kahlo moved to San Francisco. There he painted murals for the San Francisco Stock Exchange’s Luncheon Club.
The six months in the city were a productive time for Kahlo. She took further the folk art style she had adopted in Cuernavaca and painted several of her new acquaintances. From this stay come both her double portrait with Rivera and this work, which shows the horticulturist as a hybrid between a human and a plant.
Although she still presented herself in public as Rivera’s wife, the stay gave her a first exhibition: the double portrait hung in the Sixth Annual Exhibition of the San Francisco Society of Women Artists. The couple went back to Mexico for the summer of 1931.
Why does Burbank’s portrait stay in the mind?
Kahlo went beyond a likeness here: she turned a man who worked in horticulture into a tree growing out of the soil.
Hybridity and dualism, which she drew from Aztec mythology, are central to her painting, and many of her works set opposites side by side, such as life and death. Here both seem to meet along a single vertical line: foliage and fruit trees above, a body caught among roots below.
In the 1930s her style owed much to votive paintings, or retablos, which put the figures first and keep the background plain, without realistic perspective. Burbank, too, stands upright and frontal before a simple landscape.
The painting is mentioned in the Wikipedia article on Frida Kahlo (in English); there is no separate article on this portrait.
Where is the original today?
The original belongs to the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City. Kahlo painted it in oil on a masonite panel, 87 cm high and 62 cm wide.
Year, technique, size and collection follow the list of Kahlo’s works on the English Wikipedia.
A hand-painted copy brings this unusual portrait into your home, in a size that fits your room.
Portrait of Luther Burbank or another Kahlo work?
This canvas painting is upright and built on earth tones, brown, ochre and dark red, freshened by the band of blue sky. It suits a home office, a library or a hallway, and pleases anyone who gardens.
From the same year and the same city comes Frieda and Diego Rivera, the double portrait with which Kahlo first exhibited. Also from 1931 is Portrait of Dr. Leo Eloesser, another portrait of a man on masonite.
If the roots under the ground are what hold you in this painting, look at Roots as well; a year earlier she painted Self-Portrait (1930).
Every one of the famous Frida Kahlo paintings our painters recreate to order, this one included, is listed on our Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter paint the leaves, trunk and roots?
Kahlo worked on smooth, rigid masonite; on our canvas the painter keeps the surface just as even, with no raised, heavy paint.
He starts with the soft, almost watercolour-like clouds, then moves on to the brown hills and the two fruit trees.
The central figure takes the most patience. The face and white hair are built up in thin layers, the dark suit is painted almost evenly so that it stands clear of the leaves, and every leaf gets paler veins drawn with a fine brush.
Last comes the part below ground: the thin roots around the bones and the name along the bottom edge. The result is a Frida Kahlo reproduction with real layers of paint, made for each buyer separately. A print cannot match the sheen of oil, and every oil painting reproduction we produce is one of a kind.
Which size for which wall?
The short answer: 38 x 55 or 45 x 60 cm for a smaller wall, 55 x 80 or 65 x 90 cm above a chest of drawers, 84 x 115 or 95 x 128 cm above a bed or a sofa, and 105 x 145 or 130 x 185 cm for a tall wall beside the stairs.
We paint the portrait in 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 38 x 55, 45 x 60, 55 x 80, 65 x 90, 84 x 115, 95 x 128, 105 x 145 and 130 x 185 cm. Closest to the 62 x 87 cm original is 65 x 90 cm, which is 3 cm wider and 3 cm taller; 55 x 80 cm is 7 cm narrower and 7 cm shorter.
Burbank’s slim, tall figure fills the gap between two windows nicely. As a painting for the living room above the sofa, choose 84 x 115 or 95 x 128 cm.
Can I order a different size or a frame?
Yes. The original is roughly 5 : 7, so a size off the list is easy and nothing at the edges is lost. Send us your width and height, and we reply with a price and a delivery time.
We ship the painting rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed; the stretching and framing are done by our workshop in Slovenia. The frame is chosen in our 3D app, which does nothing else; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
When will the painting reach me?
The painter starts as soon as you confirm the order, and within 15 to 45 working days the portrait is ready to travel. First we send you a photograph of the finished painting, and if you would like something changed, the painter takes it on board.
Parcels to Slovenia and other EU countries travel without customs, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
The portrait is an original gift for a gardener, a plant lover or someone who knows Mexican art. If the person receiving it should choose the size, give a wall art voucher instead.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original Portrait of Luther Burbank?
It belongs to the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City.
Who was Luther Burbank?
A horticulturist whom Kahlo painted in San Francisco in 1931 as half man and half plant.
Is it a print?
No. Each one is painted by hand with a brush and oil colours on canvas.
What size is the original?
87 cm high and 62 cm wide; our nearest size, 65 x 90 cm, is 3 cm larger in both directions.
Can I have it in my own size?
Yes, we paint it in the width and height you choose, and you know the price in advance.
How long will I wait for it?
Painting takes 15 to 45 working days; within the EU we ship with no customs formalities.
Does it suit a home office or make a good gift?
Yes, the earth tones suit a study, and a keen gardener will love it.
What does the tree in place of legs mean?
Kahlo painted Burbank as a hybrid between a human and a plant; there is no single agreed reading.
- Subject: the horticulturist Luther Burbank as half man, half tree, holding a large plant, with roots under the ground.
- Original: 1931, oil on masonite, 87 x 62 cm, Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico City.
- Ours: oil on canvas, painted by hand to your order, in 8 portrait sizes (38 x 55 to 130 x 185 cm) or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: It was painted during Kahlo’s six-month stay in San Francisco.
