1937, Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky (detail) -- National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington)
From the museum label: Kahlo began painting while she recuperated from an accident that left her in chronic pain for the rest of her Life. In numerous self-portraits, Kahlo explored her inner psychology and recorded significant moments in her life. She dedicated this self-portrait to the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, with whom she had an affair while he was living in exile in Mexico. Using the format of traditional Mexican retablo, private devotional images, Kahlo presents herself wearing clothing associated with Zapotec women of southwest Mexico, thereby aligning herself with the anti-colonial Mexicanidad movement.
1937, Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky (detail) -- National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington)
From the museum label: Kahlo began painting while she recuperated from an accident that left her in chronic pain for the rest of her Life. In numerous self-portraits, Kahlo explored her inner psychology and recorded significant moments in her life. She dedicated this self-portrait to the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, with whom she had an affair while he was living in exile in Mexico. Using the format of traditional Mexican retablo, private devotional images, Kahlo presents herself wearing clothing associated with Zapotec women of southwest Mexico, thereby aligning herself with the anti-colonial Mexicanidad movement.