Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait along the Borderline between Mexico and the USA, 1932

Mini intro

Date: 1932

Artist: Frida Kahlo

Style: Retablo

Medium: oil on metal

Size: 31.7 × 35cm

Key facts (3)

Kahlo just had a miscarriage

Kahlo and husband Rivera moved to Chicago so that he could design murals for Ford

Early injury because of tram collision resulting in multiple miscarriages

Subject matter for gender identity (5)

Pink maxi dress of Western style with cinched waist and delicate lace gloves

braided hair style

Necklace

Stands on pedestal that says Carmen Rivera (maiden name and married name)

Masculine - monobrow, stern expression, smoking, broad shoulders, gazing directly at viewer, closed pose with arms crossed

Subject matter for ethnicity (8)

Smoke billowing out the pipes obscuring the flag

High rise buildings, factories and chimney stacks

Machines and wires running through the ground

Mexico is sunny and blue sky and natural

Aztec temple with rubble and Mexican artefacts

Day of the dead skull and fertility sculpture

Fertile land shown by growth of local plants

Traditional mexican necklace and hairstyle