Frida Kahlo’s first paining was Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress in 1926. Kahlo painted it while she was in bed after a car accident. In this piece, one of the first thing one can notices is the use of dark colors …show more content…
When Frida finished the piece, she gave it to Alejandro Gonzales Areas, her romantic partner at the moment, as a way to keep her in mind (FridaKahlo.org). The painting uses a dark tone background contrasted by the gleam of Frida’s skin. The use of the dark background could be a result of a psychological trauma after the car accident. Dark colors are often associate with: depressing, pessimistic, and aloof traits. After an accident as the one she was in, it could be possible that unconsciously Frida developed those feeling for a period of time. However, the bright contrast of her presents in the painting suggest that consciously she had a positive attitude. She portrayed herself, proud of her beauty and youth, in a very attractive and seductive way. Even though, her relationship was going for its best moment before the accident and after it she had major factures that would change her life from that moment …show more content…
At this point is her life, Frida has had many tragedies occur to her. From the previously mention car accident, left by her romantic partner, divorce and re-married to Diego Rivera, to losing three pregnancies (Sassan Cheng, 2014). One can theorize, that this piece is an analogy to all the tragedies she has gone through. Prorating herself with her torso naked represents her openness and vulnerability she feels. The broken column references to her first lifechanging event, the car accident in which she broke her column. Her whole upper body is cover in nails referencing to all her pains and deceptions, but there a couple of spots, refence previously, where the nails are lager. One of this spots is the abdomen or where the uterus with a developed baby would be, the bigger scale of the nails at this point reference to her three fail pregnancies. The nails in her heart reference her damage feelings in love, cheated by her husband multiple times. Lastly, her face the main focal point. Letting her tears fall down her face she seems to look straight at us with an expression resignation and deep sadness in her