Entitled Autorretrato con Collar de Espinas (Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird), this is one of the most commonly known paintings of the activist and artist Frida Kahlo. This painting was made in 1940 after Kahlo had split up with her husband of ten years Diego Rivera. It is a self-portrait and depicts Kahlo with a monkey and a black cat on her shoulder, a thorn necklace with a hummingbird attached to it around her neck, butterflies and flower-dragonflies surrounding her hair, and leaves surrounding all of these elements. I have had to look over this painting dozens of times to make sure I am not missing anything, and I am still finding new things.
The first thing that caught my attention of this piece was the gaze of Frida …show more content…
In her own life, she had gone through being an accident, the inability to have children, her husband cheating on her multiple times, and multiple surgeries to help her physical state. Although it seems like a divorce on top of this all would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, it was not. Frida Kahlo did not let her life discourage her from painting. She relentlessly painted through her turbulent life in order to survive the suffering she felt. I have no ability to personally relate to any of the challenges Frida Kahlo went through in her lifetime. She faced agony mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and faced it constantly. Although I do not understand how immeasurably difficult Kahlo’s life must have been, this painting still reveals how she feels. This self-portrait forces you to pay attention and see Frida Kahlo the way she sees herself and her life during that time. This painting makes you empathize with her struggles, even if you do not know what those struggles …show more content…
This one self-portrait is just a glimpse into her many paintings that combine her emotions into part-realistic part-mystic artwork. All of her artwork reflects this agony she had to deal with throughout her life. In this painting specifically, it is clear that at one of the lowest points of her life, she still finds the capability to create art and endure. This was made over three-quarters of a century ago, and I am still able to connect to what Kahlo created. All of the elements work together for the viewer without even knowing Kahlo’s attachments to these symbols. Beyond the surface level of the features of the painting is the unsettling feeling Kahlo portrays through her face. The look and emotion in the face of Kahlo is timeless, and still has the ability to pull someone from across the room to the forefront of this
The first thing that caught my attention of this piece was the gaze of Frida …show more content…
In her own life, she had gone through being an accident, the inability to have children, her husband cheating on her multiple times, and multiple surgeries to help her physical state. Although it seems like a divorce on top of this all would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, it was not. Frida Kahlo did not let her life discourage her from painting. She relentlessly painted through her turbulent life in order to survive the suffering she felt. I have no ability to personally relate to any of the challenges Frida Kahlo went through in her lifetime. She faced agony mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and faced it constantly. Although I do not understand how immeasurably difficult Kahlo’s life must have been, this painting still reveals how she feels. This self-portrait forces you to pay attention and see Frida Kahlo the way she sees herself and her life during that time. This painting makes you empathize with her struggles, even if you do not know what those struggles …show more content…
This one self-portrait is just a glimpse into her many paintings that combine her emotions into part-realistic part-mystic artwork. All of her artwork reflects this agony she had to deal with throughout her life. In this painting specifically, it is clear that at one of the lowest points of her life, she still finds the capability to create art and endure. This was made over three-quarters of a century ago, and I am still able to connect to what Kahlo created. All of the elements work together for the viewer without even knowing Kahlo’s attachments to these symbols. Beyond the surface level of the features of the painting is the unsettling feeling Kahlo portrays through her face. The look and emotion in the face of Kahlo is timeless, and still has the ability to pull someone from across the room to the forefront of this