Description
Two Women (Salvadora and Herminia) is a double portrait Frida Kahlo painted in 1928: two women stand close together, the one behind in a mustard-yellow blouse, the one in front in a dark blue dress with a white frill at the neck, against a dense screen of green leaves. The original, oil on canvas, is 69.5 cm high and 53.3 cm wide and belongs to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Our painter renders it in oil colours on canvas in one of two portrait sizes, 40 x 50 or 45 x 60 cm, or in a size agreed with you; both listed sizes are smaller than the original, and before the painting leaves us we show you a photograph of it.
| Title: | Two Women (Salvadora and Herminia) |
| Other titles: | Dos mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia) · Zwei Frauen (Salvadora und Herminia) |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1928 |
| Original size: | 69.5 cm x 53.3 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 2 sizes or made to measure |
Two Women (Salvadora and Herminia) – Frida Kahlo
What does Two Women (Salvadora and Herminia) show?
Two women face us, painted down to the waist and pressed so close that the front figure’s shoulder hides almost all of the other’s blouse. Both have black hair parted cleanly in the middle, and both wear serious faces without a hint of a smile.
The woman at the back wears a yellow blouse with a finely gathered yoke below the neck. Her skin is darker, an olive tone, her cheekbones are strong, and her eyes look past us towards the left of the scene.
The woman at the front wears a dark blue dress with a round neckline edged by two bands of white frill. A gold hoop shines in her ear, her hair is gathered at the nape, and her eyes are turned almost straight at the viewer.
Behind them thick green foliage, hung with a few round green fruits, fills every corner; a tiny butterfly flutters near each side edge, and a dark fold of cloth shows at the lower left.
When was it painted, and what do we know about it?
Kahlo painted it in 1928, three years after the bus accident that left her, at eighteen, in lifelong pain; she had begun to paint while recovering in bed, on an easel her mother had made for her.
Wikipedia says that in these years she painted mostly portraits of herself, her sisters and her school friends. She looked to European artists for models, above all Renaissance masters such as Botticelli and Bronzino, and to the New Objectivity movement.
Our sources do not say who Salvadora and Herminia were, so we make no guesses about them and describe only what the canvas shows.
In June 1928 Kahlo met Diego Rivera and asked him to judge whether her paintings were good enough for a career as an artist. A year later they married and moved to Cuernavaca, where her style turned towards Mexican folk art.
Why does this early work appeal to collectors?
It shows Kahlo before she found the style the world now knows: no symbols, wounds or dream scenes yet, but already clear drawing, clean colour and close attention to the face.
Rivera recalled that her early work won him over with its energy of expression and its precise rendering of character. On this canvas you see that in the contrast between the faces: the woman behind seems reserved and far away, the woman in front open and alert.
For more on her life, see the Frida Kahlo article on the English Wikipedia; it is about the painter, and there is no separate article on this painting.
Where is the original today?
The original hangs in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts: oil on canvas, 69.5 cm high and 53.3 cm wide.
Year, technique, size and museum come from the English Wikipedia list of Kahlo’s works, which does not record how the painting reached Boston.
Our hand-painted copy is likewise made on canvas in oil colours, just like the original, only in a somewhat smaller format.
Two Women or another Kahlo?
Its warm, earthy palette of leaf green, mustard and deep blue sits well with wood, linen and house plants, and the calm faces make good company in a dining room, kitchen or hallway.
From the same year comes Portrait of Alejandro Gómez Arias, a young man calmly set against a plain ground. A year earlier she painted Portrait of Alicia Galant, where a woman is again at the centre, but alone.
An even more European poise marks Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress of 1926, while Self-Portrait (1930) shows the artist two years after Salvadora and Herminia. The other famous Frida Kahlo paintings on our easels are listed together under Frida Kahlo.
How does our painter paint the leaves and the faces?
Kahlo built this canvas in smooth, even layers with no visible brushmarks, so our painter first gives the canvas a smooth ground to keep that quiet look.
Work begins with a darker green underlayer for the foliage and the outlines of both figures; the skin is then built up in thin layers, olive and deeper for the woman behind, lighter and warmer for the woman in front.
The leaves take the most patience: each gets its own pale vein and shadow, so the background never becomes a flat green wall. The white frill, the gold earring and the butterflies’ wings get their highlights last.
What you receive is a Frida Kahlo reproduction with real layers of oil paint, which no print can offer, and each order is carried out on its own, from the first stroke to the last.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 40 x 50 cm for a narrow wall, beside a wardrobe or above a desk, and 45 x 60 cm above a chest of drawers, over the bed in a smaller room or in a hallway.
For this work we offer just two portrait sizes (width x height): 40 x 50 cm and 45 x 60 cm. The original is 53.3 cm wide and 69.5 cm high, roughly 53 x 70 cm, so both of our sizes are smaller; the larger one, 45 x 60 cm, is 8.3 cm narrower and 9.5 cm shorter.
As a painting for the living room, 45 x 60 cm suits a narrower stretch of wall beside a bookcase or above a sideboard, where the faces are seen close up. Over a wide sofa both sizes look modest; write to us first.
Can it be painted in another size, and what about framing?
The original’s proportions are about 3 : 4, so we can also look at a size that is not on the list. Send us the width and height you want and we will tell you whether it can be done, what it costs and when the painting would be ready.
You can receive it rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or already framed; for every canvas painting we make, the stretching and framing is done by our workshop in Slovenia.
Our 3D app is for picking the frame and nothing else; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A plain dark wooden frame suits the green leaves and the blue dress, while a slim gold moulding brings out the yellow blouse and the earring.
When will the painting reach you?
Dispatch follows 15 to 45 working days after you confirm the order. Once the painting is done we send you a photograph; if you want the leaves darker or the dress a deeper blue, the painter adjusts it before packing.
Shipments within Slovenia and to other EU member states clear no customs, and any return is handled under our returns policy.
Two Women (Salvadora and Herminia) makes a fine gift for two sisters, two friends or anyone fond of Mexican art and quiet portraits. If you would rather not choose the size on the recipient’s behalf, give a wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
At the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, in the United States.
Who are the two women?
The title names them Salvadora and Herminia; our sources give no further details about them.
Are Salvadora and Herminia painted as an oil painting reproduction, or printed?
It is painted with a brush in oil on canvas, layer upon layer; nothing is printed.
How large is Kahlo’s own canvas?
It is 69.5 cm high and 53.3 cm wide, so it is larger than both sizes we offer.
Can I have it larger?
Only two sizes are listed; for a different size write to us and we will check whether we can paint it.
How long will I wait for delivery?
Painting and preparation take 15 to 45 working days, then the parcel travels to your address.
Will it suit a bedroom or a kitchen?
Yes, the green background and calm faces feel peaceful, and the smaller size fits even a small room.
What is the painting trying to say?
Our sources offer no reading; what we see are two women standing close, with serious faces, before thick foliage.
- Subject: two women side by side, one in a yellow blouse, one in a dark blue dress with a white frill, before dense green leaves.
- Original: 1928, oil on canvas, 69.5 x 53.3 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
- Ours: oil on canvas, hand-painted to your order, in 2 portrait sizes (40 x 50 and 45 x 60 cm) or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: The original is larger than both our sizes; for another size, write to us.
