Description
Portrait of Miguel N. Lira is a 1927 work by Frida Kahlo: her friend in a dark suit looks to the left, surrounded on a dark ground by an angel with a golden halo, a gold lyre, a skull, a white horse’s head and red letters that spell MIGUEL. The original, oil on canvas, is 106 cm high and 74 cm wide and is held by the Tlaxcala Institute of Culture in the Mexican city of Tlaxcala. Our painter recreates it by hand in oils on canvas, in 8 portrait sizes from 38 x 55 to 128 x 191 cm or made to measure, and sends you a photograph of the finished work before it ships.
| Title: | Portrait of Miguel N. Lira |
| Other titles: | Retrato de Miguel N. Lira · Porträt von Miguel N. Lira |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1927 |
| Original size: | 106 cm x 74 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Tlaxcala Institute of Culture, Tlaxcala, Mexico |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Portrait of Miguel N. Lira – Frida Kahlo
What does Portrait of Miguel N. Lira show?
Miguel N. Lira is painted half-length and almost in profile, his face turned to the left. His dark hair is combed back and his face is narrow and serious. He wears a dark suit, a white shirt with a stiff collar and a dark tie, so that mainly his face and collar stand out from the gloomy background.
To his left stands an angel with reddish hair, a round golden halo and blue-grey wings. Its eyes are strangely pale. In front of the angel a white sheet unfurls, held by a hand at the bottom of the canvas; on it are the red letters TU, a paper pinwheel with red and green vanes and a fruit split open.
At top left a white horse’s head in a bridle peers out from behind a dark curtain, in the middle hangs a gold lyre, in Spanish a lira, like the sitter’s name, and on the right a doll-like figure stands on a grey cloud, with a yellow bow in her hair, rosy cheeks and outstretched arms.
Down the right side run red letters: a slanting row of repeated A’s, a large R with the number 19, and the name MIGUEL from top to bottom, with a white, green-eyed skull among them.
Who was Miguel N. Lira, and when was the portrait painted?
Miguel N. Lira was a friend of Frida Kahlo. The portrait belongs precisely to the years when Kahlo was only just becoming a painter.
In September 1925, aged 18, she was badly injured when a streetcar crashed into the bus taking her home from school. The pain stayed with her for the rest of her life. Confined to bed, she began to paint on a special easel, with oil paints lent by her father.
By late 1927 her bed rest was over, and Kahlo was spending time again with old school friends, who were now at university. Most of her paintings from this period are portraits of herself, her sisters and her school friends, and this one belongs to that group.
Why is this early portrait worth a closer look?
The canvas shows Frida Kahlo before she found the style she is known for today. According to the Wikipedia article on the painter (in English), her early work drew above all on European models: the Renaissance masters Sandro Botticelli and Bronzino, and the New Objectivity and Cubism movements.
You can see it here: the angel’s long, narrow face, the objects laid out flat and the restrained, dark colours are far from the vivid Mexican motifs of her later work.
In 1928 she showed her paintings to the muralist Diego Rivera and asked whether she had enough talent for a career as an artist. Rivera was impressed, praising their energy of expression and the precise way they caught each sitter’s character. The two married the following year.
Where is the original today?
The original is held by the Tlaxcala Institute of Culture in the city of Tlaxcala, Mexico. It is an oil on canvas, 106 cm high and 74 cm wide.
Compared with the mostly small self-portraits she painted in the late 1920s and early 1930s, it is a fairly large work, over a metre tall.
This portrait or another work by Kahlo?
This canvas painting is dark and full of small signs, so it shows best where you can step up close: in a study, above a desk or in a warmly lit hallway.
From the same year comes Portrait of Alicia Galant, a pale young woman in a dark dress. A year later came Portrait of Alejandro Gómez Arias: the young man in a green jacket against red was her boyfriend at the time of the accident.
For him she had painted Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress in 1926. Kahlo in a blue blouse with red earrings before a pink wall appears in Self-Portrait (1930). Our whole range, from early portraits like this to the famous Frida Kahlo paintings of her later years, is on the Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter paint this portrait?
Here Kahlo worked in smooth, flat fields of colour with clear outlines, without thick paint or visible brushmarks. Our painter respects that character and paints the work in oils on canvas.
He starts with the dark ground and the curtain on the left, then draws the outlines of the man, the angel and the objects above. Next come the dark suit, the angel’s grey robe, the blue-grey wings, the clouds and the horse’s head.
The finest strokes come last: the face and ear, the strings of the lyre, the golden halo, the red letters, the vanes of the pinwheel and the skull’s green eyes. What you receive is a Frida Kahlo reproduction built up in real layers of paint, which no print can imitate. In raking light the oil paint shows small ridges that a photo on a screen flattens away.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 38 x 55 or 45 x 65 cm for a hallway or a narrow wall, 50 x 75 or 65 x 92 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk, 80 x 120 or 90 x 135 cm for a living-room or bedroom wall, and 114 x 169 or 128 x 191 cm for a tall wall or a stairwell.
We paint the portrait in 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 38 x 55, 45 x 65, 50 x 75, 65 x 92, 80 x 120, 90 x 135, 114 x 169 and 128 x 191 cm. None matches the original exactly; the nearest is 80 x 120 cm, which is 6 cm wider and 14 cm taller.
As a painting for the living room above a sofa, 65 x 92 or 80 x 120 cm works well; leave about 20 cm between the lower edge and the backrest.
Can I have another size or a frame?
The original is roughly 7 : 10 in proportion, so we can easily paint the portrait in a size that is not on the list without cutting off the name along the right edge or the angel’s wings. Tell us the width and height you need, and we reply with a price and a delivery time.
We send it rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed, and our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing. In our 3D app you choose the frame only; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
When will the portrait arrive?
As soon as you confirm the order, the painter gets to work, and within 15 to 45 working days the portrait is ready to ship. Before that you receive a photograph of the finished painting and can tell us if you would like anything changed.
Within Slovenia and the rest of the EU the parcel needs no customs clearance, and our returns policy covers every order.
A portrait of a friend makes a fine gift for someone close to you; if the size is still open, a wall art voucher leaves the choice to them.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original of this portrait kept?
In the collection of the Tlaxcala Institute of Culture in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
What does the lyre above his head mean?
In Spanish the instrument shares its name with the sitter; the other signs are left open.
Is it a print?
No. Every piece is painted by hand with a brush and oil colours on canvas, so it is a true oil painting reproduction, not a print.
How big is the original?
It is 106 cm high and 74 cm wide; our nearest size is 80 x 120 cm.
Can I get it in another size?
Yes. Give us the width and height, and we tell you the price in advance.
How long does it take?
Between 15 and 45 working days, then we ship; inside the EU with no customs.
Does it suit a study?
Very well: its dark tones and small signs are best enjoyed up close, above a desk.
Who was Miguel N. Lira?
A friend of Frida Kahlo, painted in 1927, when she mostly portrayed herself, her sisters and her school friends.
- Subject: Miguel N. Lira in a dark suit among an angel, a lyre, a skull and the red letters of his name.
- Original: 1927, oil on canvas, 106 x 74 cm, Tlaxcala Institute of Culture, Tlaxcala.
- Ours: a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas, made to your order, in 8 portrait sizes (38 x 55 to 128 x 191 cm) or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: An early work that still shows the influence of European painters such as Botticelli and Bronzino.
