Itzcuintli Dog With Me Essay

Itzcuintli Dog with Me, created in 1938 by Frida Kahlo, is a self-portrait created with the use of oil-based paints. Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist who was born in 1907 and died in 1954. This artwork is found in the Dallas museum of arts and it is found outside of the American art gallery. While the painting may appear to be simply, it has many artistic elements within it. As the title of the artwork implies there are only two figures within the painting, Frida Kahlo and her dog. Kahlo is seen seating on a chair wearing a traditional Mexican dress and is smoking a cigarette. Additionally, Kahlo is looking forward with an emotionless expression on her face and this expression causes the tone of the painting to be gloomy.
When viewing the art painting it appear to be flat piece of artwork with little depth to the piece, but there are hints of depths. The darkening of the tan floor as it connects to the contrasting white wall creates a sense of depth to the piece. Additionally, detail is added to the dress that Kahlo is wearing by using the chiaroscuro technique. Folds are created on the dress by placing highlights and transitioning the light into the core of the shadow. Similarly, a shadow is cast is on the majority of her face except for the highlights on her left side, this indicates the light source is located to her left side. The most …show more content…
Additionally, the repetition of black and white causes a simultaneous contrast effect causing the colors to intensify when they are side by side. Placing the darkest colors in the center of the artwork and then surrounding these colors with lighter colors achieve asymmetrical balance. The color scheme of the artwork is mostly analogous with the few expectations of colors that come from her skin tone and the blue bow that is braided into her