Description
Self-Portrait on the Border of Mexico and the United States is a small painting on metal that Frida Kahlo made in Detroit in 1932. She stands in a pink dress on a stone pedestal, holding a little Mexican flag; to her left lies Mexico with a ruined pyramid, the sun and the moon, to her right the United States with factory chimneys, skyscrapers and the American flag rising out of the smoke. The original measures 31 x 35 cm (height x width) and is in a private collection in New York. Our painter renders it by hand in oil colours on canvas in one of two landscape sizes, 50 x 45 or 59 x 50 cm; both are larger than the original, and before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished painting.
| Title: | Self-Portrait on the Border of Mexico and the United States |
| Other titles: | Autorretrato en la frontera entre México y los Estados Unidos · Selbstporträt an der Grenze zwischen Mexiko und den Vereinigten Staaten |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1932 |
| Original size: | 31 cm x 35 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on metal |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Private collection, New York |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 2 sizes or made to measure |
Self-Portrait on the Border of Mexico and the United States – Frida Kahlo
What lies to the left and to the right of the border?
At the centre stands Kahlo in a pale pink short-sleeved dress whose skirt widens at the hem into several gathered flounces. She wears long white lace gloves, her dark hair is pinned up, and a string of red beads circles her neck. In one hand she holds a small green, white and red flag, and her pedestal is a grey block of stone carrying a short painted inscription.
Mexico is on her left. Behind her rises a stepped pyramid, partly fallen in, with a heap of dark stones before it and, on the ground, a stone head that looks like a skull. In the sky a red sun with a face blazes, a pale crescent moon hangs in a cloud beside it, and a bolt of lightning cracks between them. Lower down stand two small clay figures, and along the bottom edge flowers and succulents bloom, their roots reaching deep into the soil.
The United States is on her right. Four tall chimneys rise from a red-brick factory, and their thick white smoke curls into the American flag. Grey skyscrapers stand behind, and in front a row of bluish-grey metal funnels and pipes. Along the bottom edge lie a light bulb in a metal housing, a round red lamp and an electric motor, their cables trailing across the ground much as the roots do on the Mexican side.
How did it come about during her year in Detroit?
In April 1932 Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera arrived in Detroit, where Rivera had been commissioned to paint murals for the city’s Institute of Arts. According to Wikipedia the year there was hard for her: she disliked American society, resented having to socialise with wealthy industrialists, and yet wrote in a letter that the industrial and mechanical development of the United States interested her greatly.
In Detroit she was also pregnant. In July she miscarried and, after a serious haemorrhage, spent two weeks in hospital; less than three months later her mother died in Mexico. Wikipedia gives these events as the background to that year, not as a reading of this painting.
She tried out new techniques, her paintings took on a stronger narrative style, and it was there that she began to paint in the manner of retablos, small votive pictures on metal. Wikipedia names this work among those she made in that manner in Detroit in 1932.
Why do lovers of Mexican art keep coming back to it?
People love it because it reads like a map. On one side are stone, plants, the sun and ancient figures; on the other steel, smoke, electricity and tall buildings; and between them a small figure in pink who looks straight back at us. What it means is left to the viewer.
For her life, see the Frida Kahlo article on the English Wikipedia, which lists this work among her Detroit paintings; it is about the painter, and there is no separate article on the painting itself.
Where is the original today?
The original belongs to a private collection in New York. It is oil on a metal plate, 31 cm high and 35 cm wide, a size meant for viewing up close.
The year, technique, size and collection come from the list of Frida Kahlo’s works on the English Wikipedia.
Your hand-painted copy will be made on canvas rather than tin. The painter works in oil colours, and we can send it rolled, stretched or already framed.
This painting or another Frida Kahlo?
The pink dress, blue sky and red sun lift a neutral wall, while the grey machines and stones sit well with concrete, metal or dark wood.
A year later, in New York, she painted My Dress Hangs There, which again places Mexican clothing among American buildings. Also from 1933 is Self-Portrait with Necklace, a close portrait on metal against a plain grey ground, the exact opposite of this crowded scene.
She doubles herself later in The Two Fridas of 1939. Another small oil on metal is the still life Cactus Fruits of 1937. Our Frida Kahlo page brings together the famous Frida Kahlo paintings we offer, each painted to order.
How does our painter handle so many small details?
The original is painted on smooth metal, so its colours are flat, bright and clean and its outlines as sharp as on folk votive pictures.
The bottom strip takes longest. Every stone in the heap, every root, flower and cable gets its own shape and shadow, and the smoke over the chimneys is built from soft white swirls in which stripes and stars appear. The result is a Frida Kahlo reproduction in real oil paint laid on in layers, made for you alone.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 50 x 45 cm for a desk, a hallway or a bedroom, 59 x 50 cm above a chest of drawers, a small sofa or in a dining room.
This work comes in only two landscape sizes (width x height): 50 x 45 cm and 59 x 50 cm. The original measures 35 x 31 cm, so both are larger; the smaller is 15 cm wider and 14 cm taller, the larger 24 cm wider and 19 cm taller.
As a painting for the living room, the larger size works best on a wall seen from close by, above a reading corner or beside an armchair; the smaller one suits a home office, an entrance or the wall over a bedside table.
Is another size possible, and which frame suits it?
The original’s proportions are about 9 : 8, close to a square. If you need a size other than the two on offer, send us the width and height; we will tell you whether we can paint it, what it would cost and when it would be ready.
You can have it rolled, stretched on a wooden stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia stretches and frames each canvas painting we make, and you pick the frame in our 3D app, which is there for choosing the frame and nothing else. Seeing the painting on a photo of your own wall is a separate service with its own price.
How long does it take to make, and how is it delivered?
Between your order confirmation and dispatch there are 15 to 45 working days. When the painting is done we send you a photo of it; if you would like anything adjusted, the painter sees to it before we pack it.
Because the painting travels within the European Union, no customs hold it up, and our returns policy covers every purchase.
Self-Portrait on the Border of Mexico and the United States makes a fine gift for anyone who has lived abroad or loves Mexico. If you cannot decide between the two sizes, give a wall art voucher and let them choose.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns the original?
A private collection in New York, as the Wikipedia list of her works records.
What is Kahlo holding?
A small green, white and red Mexican flag, tilted towards the Mexican half of the painting.
Is this oil painting reproduction printed in any way?
No. It is painted with a brush in oil colours on canvas, layer by layer.
How big is the original?
It is 31 cm high and 35 cm wide, so both of our sizes are larger.
Can I order a different size?
Send us the width and height; we confirm feasibility and price before you order.
How many days will I wait?
Allow 15 to 45 working days until dispatch; a photo of your painting reaches you first.
Does it suit an office, or work as a gift?
Yes, its factories, machines and story of two countries fit an office well, and the smaller size makes an easy gift.
What do the two halves mean?
Our sources give no specific reading; you see Mexico with its pyramid and plants on one side and American factories on the other.
- Subject: Frida Kahlo in a pink dress with a small Mexican flag on the border: pyramid, sun, moon and roots to the left, factories, skyscrapers and the US flag to the right.
- Original: 1932, oil on metal, 31 x 35 cm, private collection, New York.
- Ours: a hand-painted oil on canvas made to your order, in two landscape sizes: 50 x 45 and 59 x 50 cm.
- Worth knowing: The original is small: even our smaller size, 50 x 45 cm, is clearly larger.
