Frida Kahlo, Marxism will give health to the sick, 1954
1. full details of the work :
Artist: Frida Kahlo
Title: Marxism will give health to the sick
Year: 1954
Medium: oil painting
Dimensions: 76x61cm
Gallery: Frida Kahlo
Museum :Mexico City, Mexico
2. specific historical context:
Frida’s work never fits into the main stream art movement/categories in the 19th century. Her work neither considered as Abstract Expressionism or Pop art. Therefore, a category named Vernacular Modernism includes Frida’s work under their definition of modern-time artwork with strong dialectic and regional identity.
Vernacular means dialect and regional or Recognizable characteristic of a period, place etc. For Modernism, it means a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression.
That means Frida’s work contains a definite and recognizable local features. Frida was born in Mexico and her work had been influenced by the Mexocan Renaissance movement in 1910-1920 which remained its influences till nowadays. The movement is aim at promoting individualism and indigenous cultural identity as a Mexican. Artist then tried to trace back their roots and identity in reviving the popular in Mexco: retablos and ex-voto which could be considered as folk art.
Folk art is different from any forms of art in fine art genre since they are not pursuing pure aesthetic emotion or artistic achievement. They are sometimes utilitarian and even decorative.
Retablo and ex-votos are traditional religious art form. They both considered as a tool to re-identify Mexican
Retablo consists of:
• vibrant color
• decorative elements
• traditional iconographic (that means full of icon)
Ex-voto is normally painted by normal people to document their life’s event. Under 2 circumstances may people painted ex-votos: first, tragedy happened wanting a blessing waiting for miracle. Second, miracle they have gone through.
Ex-voto actually is a pictorial documentary of the local’s daily life.
That is why ex-votos contains the following chatacteristics:
• specific situation
• reveal directness of emotion
• vivid and simplified forms
• dramatic colors and contrasts
For Frida, she always struggling from her accident from a car crash and the revolution in conquer over the domination of capitalism. A great sense of pride being a Mexican is always shown in her painting. Retablos and ex-votos have given her great influence in collaborate her work of art.
3. A description of the work
“Marxism will give health to the sick“ is an unfinished work. However we still can see Frida’s self expressions and folk art influence in it.
1. Influence from folk art:
i. vibrant color use :
-seldom light and soft color
-colors with string visual impact, like red expressing anger and horror symbolizes the cruelty of capitalism. The bright sky blue makes a strong announcement of peace and hope. The great area of white on the left upper corner used on the dove make a strong saying on peace.etc.
- the overall use of color show less delicate and subtle statement. Always painted color in a great area, we can divide the painting into different sectors by colors. (broad&simplified color areas )Color definitely is an important emotion and aesthetic element in it. Heavy darker red used greatly on the right land, giving a sense a blood and horror. However, the bright yellow land, the bright yellow sun and the bright yellow land on the globe; the bright blue sky; the meadow tone like green skirt; the clean white hair of Marx and the dove not only give a symbolic statement but also give a sense of enthusiastic mindset of being save and the ecstatic emotion triggered by the revolution.
- the color use gives sense of hope and passion also originated from Frida’s contradictory use of color. For example the red land contrasts with the green dress. The blue sky contrasts with the blue sky.
ii. iconographic = full of icon :
1. the red book on Frida’s right hand and her green and white skirt symbolize the Mexico flag: white green and red
2. The white dove symbolizes peace
3. Marx symbolizes Marxism
4. The man with American’s flag hat and a eagle body symbolizes the “evil” capitalism
5. Marx strangle the man with American’s flag hat symbolizes Marxism can save Mexican from capitalized damage.
6. The separated walking stick symbolized Frida under Marxism protection finally get rid of physical and mental pain
7. The mushroom-like grey boom symbolized the cold-war atomic bomb threat and damage to Japan
8. The sun on sky symbolize hope
9. The land on the globe in half red and yellow symbolizes places dominated by Marxism could be brighten by the sun with hope. No longer stays in darkness.
^àwith that much of symbols also make the painting look decorative.
iii. brushstrokes:
-overall brushstrokes are rush and rough
Seldom refined lines, mostly carry a great deal of emotion in it.
àthere is only rough and rougher/ heavy or heavier but not soft and hard/ delicate or rough
à comparing the American eagle body with Frida’s dress. Definitely, the dress is less heavy and rough. But we still can sense the rhythm is quick and with order: the dress is painted in pattern-like downward straight line to create the drape of the dress. On a contrary, the eagle body is with a sudden and obvious extra thick contour line. The brushstroke represent a sense if chaotic which expressing Frida’s hater toward capitalism
-heavy brushstrokes may resulted to her illness, the unbearable pain from physical or mental
iv. composition:
the composition could be mainly described into 2 main ares
- firstly, it could be seen as an imitation of the ex-votos. Most ex-votos would put the savior above the patient/believer to promote the sense of hope/safe. Also, this help in create a saint like image for the savor. In this case, we have Marxism.
However, Frida was in the most proportion if the work and she is in the middle and without sharing the same focal point with the “saint”. We could see that Frida’s decision in the composition reveal her emphasizes on individual and self-identity.
A dove placed on the sky and in bigger proportion than Marx, and shared the same sky(one at the right , one at the left) is highlighting the idea of do not worship Marxism as a religious but believe in its norms with rational thinking. This is somehow diminishing the sense of “saint” being put on Marx.
The placement of everything is giving a sense of balance. The horizontal division of land and sky and vertical division of the right land and left land create a sense of symmetrical and order.
The proportion a land > sky sends a message of people should be more down to earth.-->to revolution instead of waiting for savior
- Secondly, Frida place the atomic bomb, the red-blooded land and the America eagle all on the right hand side and place the Marxism dominated world the yellow land with healthy blue water and dove on the left hand side is clearly defining the political position; the right wing: capitalism and the left wing : the Marxism/Socialism.
v. free use of space and volume:
-a sense of freedom.
-No sense of distance
-No rational and reasonable object placement
-Error in geometric perspective
-Color is not function in creating accurate shadow to provide sense of volume; and not function in fading in the background to create sense of distance
-Every objects in equal details, even objects in the background which details should be shaded off.
** These all elements help revealing the directness of emotion of being save and saving the others**
1. individual > anything (Self identification affirmation)
i. Mexican identity
ii. Her belief in Marxism (personal political stance)
iii. Her pain (relief)—physically and mentally
This is her diary
àtraditional Mexican dress( long enough to cover her distorted right legs)
àfrank self expression = the corset
3. personal political stance
àfrida has wrote sentences to describe the work:” "Peace on Earth so the Marxist Science may Save the Sick and Those Oppressed by Criminal Yankee Capitalism"
This not only reveals what is the main theme of it. It actually serves a similar intention as lines written at the bottom of ex-votos.
à From the composition of the painting can show Frida’s political stance: supporting Marxism.
One half of the land represents the peaceful part of the earth. The other side with symbolic mushroom-like boom and red lands symbolize the capitalized horror world. The blue sky is attached with a white dove that protects Frida and the globe dominated by the Soviet Union. From these, we can see Frida’s political stance.
**Actually, from Influence from folk art to individual > anything (Self identification affirmation and personal political stance are huge and significance difference from mainstream modern art. These three aspects are contradict to modern art norms.**
4. one key quote about the work in question
Frida: "They thought I was a Surrealist,
but I wasn't.
I never painted dreams.
I painted my own reality."
Andre Breton who wrote the manifesto of surrealism
à admires Frida as Surrealist.
è After some explosion in Paris and Mexico’s exhibition
è Frida disgraced Surrealism as “ a decadent manifestation of bourgeois art”
She developed a violent dislike for what she called "this bunch of cuckoo lunatic sons of bitches of surrealists." She did not denounce Surrealism, but obviously disliked their ideas about the dream world and psychology.
àFrida did not view her paintings as a window into her dreams, but rather a window to her reality. Her paintings truly displayed the link between mental and physical health.
àFrida recognized that although she was suffering from mental illness caused by her physical illnesses, she could find strength in her relationships as well as her amazing ability to paint striking art. She became politically active and a sympathizer for the Communist party.
5. why this work interests you/ your own opinion of the work
Hayden Herrera has once commened on the "What the Water Gave Me" She said :
“Frida is ‘down to earth’,’having depicted ‘real images in the most literal, straightforward way.Like much of Mexican art, Frida's paintings "interweave fact and fantasy as if the two were inseparable and equally real,"
Frida has once wrote too :"Really I do not know whether my paintings are surrealist or not, but I do know that they are the frankest expression of myself," "Since my subjects have always been my sensations, my states of mind and the profound reactions that life has been producing in me, I have frequently objectified all this in figures of myself, which were the most sincere and real thing that I could do in order to express what I felt inside and outside of myself."
Some may say : à3levels popular /poetic/pictorial = surrealism
Linked reality and imaginary with pictorial and words
Poem = word of picture
Picture= picture of word
However I’ll ask :How you define reality?
For me, depicting the real emotion, making it seeable, is already reality and realism for me. Frida’s naked her feelings in front of the world. The pain even seemed touchable.
That is why I would like to raise the question: Is it necessary for us to categorize every work of art into different class? And, why ?
6. a thought-provoking question about the work for the class
Is it necessary for us to categorize every work of art into different class?
And, why ?
7. names of authors, titles of articles, books or websites (and publication information) that are especially relevant to this work
• Paz Octavio ,”essays on Maxican Art” p.243-245
• http://www.scribd.com/doc/9079307/Frida-Kahlos-Spiritual-World-The-Influence-of-Mexican-Retablo-and-ExVoto-Paintings-on-Her-Art
Hi Frieda,
ReplyDeleteImpressive! Good work!
You gave a very detail and clear analysis of each element of this work.
Keep up your good work.
Queenie