Description
Self-Portrait – Time Flies is a painting Frida Kahlo made in 1929, the year she married Diego Rivera: she shows herself to the waist in a white blouse with lace-trimmed sleeves and a heavy necklace of greenish stones, with two curtains drawn back behind her, a small aeroplane flying above her head and an alarm clock standing on the right. The original, oil on masonite, is 77.5 cm high and 61 cm wide and is in a private collection. Our painter recreates it for you in oil colours on canvas, in one of 6 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 73 x 94 cm or made to measure; before it leaves us, you receive a photograph of it.
| Title: | Self-Portrait – Time Flies |
| Other titles: | Autorretrato – El tiempo vuela · Selbstporträt – Die Zeit fliegt |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1929 |
| Original size: | 77.5 cm x 61 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on masonite |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Private collection |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes or made to measure |
Self-Portrait – Time Flies – Frida Kahlo
What does Self-Portrait – Time Flies show?
Frida Kahlo painted herself head-on, down to the waist, her arms hanging at her sides. Her hair is parted in the middle and pulled tightly back, her brows meet above her nose, her cheeks are flushed pink and her mouth is set and serious.
The white blouse has a square neckline and short sleeves finished with a band of white lace. Round her neck lies a heavy necklace of large rounded stones in a greenish grey like jade, with a big flat carved pendant at the centre.
Dark green curtains hang behind her, held back by thick red cords with tassels; between them are a balcony railing and a pale blue sky, where a small propeller plane flies.
On the right, on a red stand, sits a round alarm clock with a bell and a handle on top, a literal echo of the title.
What is the story behind this self-portrait?
The painting dates from 1929. In August of that year Frida Kahlo married the muralist Diego Rivera in a civil ceremony at the town hall of Coyoacán; he was 21 years her senior.
In 1928 she had asked Rivera whether her paintings showed enough talent for a career as an artist; he later recalled seeing at once that she was a true artist.
She had started painting a few years earlier, when a serious bus accident at 18 confined her to bed for three months; the pain stayed with her for the rest of her life.
At the end of 1929 the couple moved to Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos, where Rivera had been commissioned to paint murals for the Palace of Cortés.
Why does this self-portrait attract so much attention?
Self-Portrait – Time Flies stands at the start of her mature work. Everything people recognise her by at a glance is already here: the frontal pose, the joined brows, the Mexican jewellery and the calm, almost unreadable gaze.
Many of her self-portraits borrow the bust-length portrait of the colonial era. The face in them is mask-like, and around it sit objects that tell the viewer more. Her paintings often set opposites side by side, among them the old and the modern; here an alarm clock and an aeroplane appear next to the stone necklace.
For more on her life, her marriage and her painting, see the Wikipedia article on Frida Kahlo (in English); it has no separate entry on this self-portrait.
Where is the original today?
The original is in a private collection, so it cannot be seen regularly in any museum.
It is painted in oil on masonite, a rigid board of pressed fibres, and measures 77.5 cm in height and 61 cm in width. Most of her self-portraits are fairly small; this one is among the larger ones.
Ours, by contrast, is painted on canvas. Since the original cannot be visited, a hand-painted copy is for most admirers the only way to have that gaze in front of them every day.
Self-Portrait – Time Flies or another Kahlo self-portrait?
This canvas painting is upright, light at the centre and dark at the edges, with green curtains framing the face like a stage. It suits a home office, an entrance hall or a bedroom.
Three years older is Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress of 1926, and a year later came Self-Portrait (1930), with her seated against a pink wall.
In the same year as this self-portrait she painted The Bus, which alludes to the accident of her youth, while the couple appear together in the double portrait Frieda and Diego Rivera of 1931. These and other famous Frida Kahlo paintings we paint to order are gathered on our Frida Kahlo page.
How does our painter paint the face, the necklace and the clock?
Here Frida Kahlo used clearly bounded areas of pure colour, smooth on the face and blouse and grainier in the curtains, and our painter keeps that difference.
After the curtains, sky and outline, he models the face in thin layers: pink cheeks, the sharp line of the brows, dark steady eyes. The lace at the sleeve edge is drawn with a fine brush, loop by loop.
The necklace takes patience, stone by stone; last come the brass bell of the clock, the tassels and the little plane.
The result is a Frida Kahlo reproduction with real layers of paint, painted afresh for each order. That is why every oil painting reproduction from our hands is one of a kind, with faint brush marks that no print can give.
Which size for which wall?
The short answer: the small sizes, 40 x 49 and 45 x 60 cm, for a hallway or a narrow wall; the middle ones, 51 x 67 and 58 x 75 cm, above a desk or a chest of drawers; the larger ones, 66 x 83 and 73 x 94 cm, above a sofa or a bed.
We paint the self-portrait in 6 portrait sizes (width x height): 40 x 49, 45 x 60, 51 x 67, 58 x 75, 66 x 83 and 73 x 94 cm. Closest to the original is 58 x 75 cm, which is 3 cm narrower and 2.5 cm shorter; 66 x 83 cm is 5 cm wider and 5.5 cm taller.
As a painting for the living room above a two- or three-seater sofa, 66 x 83 and 73 x 94 cm work best. The largest size is 12 cm wider and 16.5 cm taller than the original, so her gaze carries across to the far side of the room.
Is another size or a frame possible?
The original is roughly 4 : 5 in proportion, so we can paint it in a size that is not on the list without cutting off the clock or the plane. Send us your width and height, and we will quote a price and a painting time.
It travels to you rolled, on a stretcher bar or in a frame; the stretching and framing are done in our own workshop in Slovenia. Our 3D app is for picking the frame and nothing more; a view of the painting on your own wall is offered as a separate service.
When does the painting arrive, and how does it travel?
Once you confirm, the painter starts, and after 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to travel. Before we pack it, we send you a photograph; if anything bothers you, the painter corrects it.
Parcels to Slovenia and elsewhere in the EU go without customs, and our returns policy applies to every order.
Painted in the year of her wedding, it makes a lovely wedding or anniversary present. If you would rather let the recipient pick the size, give a wall art voucher instead.
Frequently asked questions
Is the original on show in a museum?
No, it is in a private collection and not on permanent display.
What can be seen behind her?
Green curtains, a balcony railing, blue sky with a plane, and an alarm clock on a red stand.
Is this a print?
No, each one is made with a brush and oil colours on canvas, layer upon layer.
How big is the original?
It is 77.5 cm high and 61 cm wide; our 58 x 75 cm size is 3 cm narrower and 2.5 cm shorter.
Can I order my own size?
Yes, we paint it in the width and height you choose and give you the price before you order.
How long will I wait for it?
Painting takes 15 to 45 working days, and parcels within the EU travel without customs.
Does it suit a bedroom or a living room?
Yes, the smaller sizes suit a bedroom, and 66 x 83 or 73 x 94 cm suit the wall above a living-room sofa.
What do the clock and the plane mean?
Both echo the title about time flying; there is no single reading, but she liked to pair the old with the modern.
- Subject: Frida Kahlo in a white blouse with a necklace of greenish stones, curtains behind her, a plane in the sky and an alarm clock.
- Original: 1929, oil on masonite, 77.5 x 61 cm, private collection.
- Ours: oil on canvas, hand-painted for you by our painter, in 6 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 73 x 94 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: The self-portrait was painted in the year she married Diego Rivera.
