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Reconciling Identity in The Two Fridas
Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas, 1939
Although today she is considered one of the most influential Latin American artists of all time, Kahlo constantly lived in her husband Diego Rivera’s shadow. Her art was one of the few places where she could examine her individuality—as both an artist and person. Her 1939 painting The Two Fridas shows how imagery and symbolism (particularly in dress) marry conflicting dualities in Kahlo's life.
"There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego.
Diego was by far the worst."
-Frida Kahlo
Two Halves
Kahlo often depicts herself in traditional Tehuantapec clothing, in line with her and her husband's Nationalist Mexican views. In the Two Fridas, however, she shows both her Mexican and European lineages, the first who Diego loved, and the second which he rejected.
Coverings for a Broken Body
Kahlo acknowledged that dress was a way to “dress for paradise”, which I interpret as adopting the ideal version of herself as she would be in the afterlife, covering her bodily deformations. My Dress Hangs There is another example where Kahlo uses clothing as a form of identity. The lone Tehuana dress dangled against the dreary background of New York serves as a stand in for Kahlo herself, suggested by the garment devoid of its wearer.
Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait as a Tehuana, 1943
Frida Kahlo's Clothes, courtesy of the V & A exhibit Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up, 2018
Frida Kahlo, My Dress Hangs There, 1933