Frida Kahlo “Stalin” painting
In her final days, Frida Kahlo introduced a political dimension to her work in order to serve the Party and benefit the Revolution. The votive nature of this portrait could be compared to that of the painting Self-Portrait with the Portrait of Doctor Farill, in which the doctor plays the role of “Savior”. Here it is Joseph Stalin who assumes the role of “Saint”. In this portrait Frida reveals her almost religious faith in Communism. As in other paintings of this period, the precise execution of detail, characteristic of many works by Frida Kahlo, has disappeared; most likely due to the action of the strong medication that Frida was taking.
The work cited in the previous text Self-portrait with the portrait of Doctor Farill, year 1951, is an oil on masonite – 41.5 cm x 50 cm – from the Arvite Gallery in Mexico D.F.). Surgeon Juan Farill operated on Frida Kahlo’s spine seven times in 1951, forcing her to remain hospitalized for more than nine months in Mexico City.
