Description
Self-Portrait with Curly Hair is a small painting Frida Kahlo made in 1935: a bust of the artist with short, dense black curls, a large silvery-blue earring and a double strand of grey-green beads at her throat, dressed in red. The original, oil on tin, is only 19.3 cm high and 14.7 cm wide and is held in a private collection in California. Our painter recreates it for you by hand in oil colours on canvas, in one of 2 portrait sizes, 40 x 50 or 45 x 60 cm, or ask us about another. Both of our sizes are larger than the original, and you receive a photograph of the finished painting before it ships.
| Title: | Self-Portrait with Curly Hair |
| Other titles: | Autorretrato con pelo rizado · Selbstporträt mit lockigem Haar |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1935 |
| Original size: | 19.3 cm x 14.7 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on metal |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Private collection, California |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 2 sizes or made to measure |
Self-Portrait with Curly Hair – Frida Kahlo
What does Self-Portrait with Curly Hair show?
Kahlo paints herself at very close range, from the chest up. Her head is turned three-quarters towards our left, while her dark, steady eyes come back to the viewer. The background is a pale, greyish lilac, slightly mottled, with no objects, plants or lettering.
The hair is what you notice first. Instead of long braids or hair pulled back, she wears a short cut of thick black curls that pile up softly above the forehead and leave the nape and ear bare.
Her brows meet above the nose in one dark line, her lips are a rosy red, and a faint dark down shows above them.
From her ear hangs a large hoop earring in a silvery blue. Two rows of grey-green beads circle her neck, with a few paler beads of a pearly sheen set among them. Below is the red top, edged at the shoulders by a darker, brownish-red band.
What was 1935 like for Frida Kahlo?
At the end of 1933 Kahlo and Diego Rivera came back from the United States and moved into a new house in the San Ángel district of Mexico City.
According to Wikipedia, she made no new work in 1934 and only two pieces in 1935, held back by health complications. This self-portrait is dated 1935, which places it among the few works of that period.
In early 1935 she found out that Rivera was having an affair with her younger sister Cristina; she moved to an apartment in central Mexico City and considered divorce. Later the same year she was reconciled with both of them and returned to San Ángel. Our sources do not say whether this painting has any link to those events.
Like several of her works from the 1930s, this self-portrait is painted on a small metal sheet of the kind folk painters used for the votive pictures called retablos. That is also how Self-Portrait on the Border of Mexico and the United States came about in Detroit in 1932.
Why does such a small self-portrait draw so much attention?
Wikipedia notes that many of her self-portraits follow the bust-length portraits fashionable in the colonial era, except that the artist does not flatter herself. Here the joined brows and the shadow above the lip are painted calmly, with nothing hidden.
What stays in the memory above all is the haircut. In many of her other self-portraits Kahlo wears her hair braided or tightly combed, while here it is short and curly.
The format matters as well. The original is smaller than a sheet of A5 paper and can be held between two hands, so it reads as a confiding portrait meant to be seen up close.
To learn more about her life, read the English Wikipedia article on Frida Kahlo; it covers the painter, and there is no separate article on this painting.
Where is the original today?
The original belongs to a private collection in California, so you will not find it on show in a public museum. It is painted in oil on tin and measures 19.3 x 14.7 cm (height x width).
We take the year, technique, size and owner from the list of Frida Kahlo’s works on the English Wikipedia.
Our hand-painted copy is made on canvas rather than metal. Canvas is lighter than tin, easy to stretch on a stretcher bar and frame, and the painter takes care to keep the surface as smooth as possible.
Self-Portrait with Curly Hair or another Kahlo self-portrait?
The colours are warm yet restrained: red, orange-brown skin and black curls sit well with pale wood and white or sand-coloured walls.
Its closest relative is Self-Portrait with Necklace of 1933: the same tight framing and the same calm, but there the hair is combed smooth and the beads are dark. An earlier view of herself appears in Self-Portrait (1930), and a completely different hairstyle in Self-Portrait with Braid.
The Frida Kahlo page gathers all the famous Frida Kahlo paintings we paint to order.
How does our painter handle the curls, the earring and the beads?
The original is painted on smooth tin and has no canvas texture. That is why our painter first prepares the canvas carefully, so the weave does not show through the face.
After the lilac-grey ground and the outline of the head, the painter builds the warm skin and the red lips in thin layers. The curls are built as small loops of dark paint, and brownish lights go in between them at the end so the hair gains volume.
The earring gets cool, silver-blue strokes, and each bead in the necklace its own highlight.
What you receive is a Frida Kahlo reproduction with genuine layers of oil paint, made by the painter specifically for your order, with no printed base underneath.
Which size suits your wall?
In short: 40 x 50 cm for a narrow wall, a bedside table or a hallway, 45 x 60 cm if you want the face to hold its own above a chest of drawers or a desk.
For this work we offer just 2 portrait sizes (width x height): 40 x 50 cm and 45 x 60 cm. The original is 147 mm wide and 193 mm high, that is 147 x 193 mm, so each of our sizes is larger: the smaller by 25.3 cm in width and 30.7 cm in height, the larger by 30.3 cm in width and 40.7 cm in height.
The original’s proportions are close to 3 : 4, just like 45 x 60 cm; 40 x 50 cm is a little squarer.
As a painting for the living room, 45 x 60 cm looks best on a shorter wall, next to a bookcase or paired with a second portrait.
Can I order another size, or have it framed?
If neither size fits your space, send us the width and height you need. We will tell you whether it can be done, at what price and by when.
You can receive it rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing, and it looks after each canvas painting in our range.
You pick the frame in our 3D app, which does nothing but frame selection. Seeing the painting on your own wall is a different, separate service.
How soon will the painting reach you?
The painter needs 15 to 45 working days from the moment you confirm the order. When the painting is done, we send you a photograph of it; if you would like anything changed, the painter makes the change before packing.
Parcels to Slovenia and other EU countries travel without customs clearance, and the same returns rules apply as for every order we take.
A small, personal portrait is a thoughtful gift for someone who loves Mexican art or Frida Kahlo. If you are unsure about the size or the subject, a wall art voucher may be the better choice.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
Not in public: it is in a private collection in California, according to the Wikipedia list of her works.
What is depicted in the painting?
Frida Kahlo from the chest up, with short black curls, a bluish earring, a double strand of grey-green beads and a red top.
Am I buying an oil painting reproduction or a print?
An oil painting: the painter applies the colours to canvas with a brush, layer by layer.
Which size should I choose?
40 x 50 cm for a smaller wall or a chest of drawers, 45 x 60 cm for more presence and proportions nearer the original.
Is a different size possible?
You can request one through our made-to-order form; we reply with a price and a date.
How long will I wait for it?
Painting takes 15 to 45 working days, and before shipping you get a photo of the finished painting.
Is it right for a bedroom, or as a gift?
Yes, the small upright format and warm tones sit well beside a bed, and a portrait makes a personal gift.
What does the short haircut mean?
Our sources offer no reading of the haircut; we describe the painting and leave its meaning to you.
- Subject: Frida Kahlo close up, with short black curls, a silvery-blue earring and a double strand of grey-green beads.
- Original: 1935, oil on tin, 19.3 x 14.7 cm, private collection, California.
- Ours: oil on canvas, hand-painted to order, in 2 portrait sizes (40 x 50 and 45 x 60 cm).
- Worth knowing: The original is smaller than an A5 sheet, so both our sizes are much larger.
