Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky

Inspiration for the painting Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) was a Mexican painter whose works, including many self-portraits, made her a symbol of Mexican culture, feminism, and LGBT culture. Many of her surrealist works depict moments in her life, often tragic ones, due to her tumultuous marriage to artist Diego Rivera and her recurring health issues. Around a third of her paintings are self-portraits, which often symbolize her painful experiences. Kahlo's personal life and her artwork were heavily influenced by the Mexicanidad movement, which seeks to revitalize the culture of Mexico's indigenous peoples.On January 9, 1937, Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and his second wife, Natalia Sedova, arrived in Tampico, Mexico, after living in exile for several years due to Joseph Stalin's success in ousting him from power. Rivera was a Communist who, along with Kahlo, convinced President Lázaro Cárdenas to allow Trotsky into Mexico. The couple welcomed Trotsky to take up residence in their Blue House (La Casa Azul), located in the Coyoacán neighborhood of Mexico City. Trotsky and Sedova would end up living in the house until April 1939 when Rivera and Trotsky's friendship ended. Calling Trotsky "The Old Man" (El Viejo), Kahlo was attracted to his resilience in the face of persecution and his revolutionary ideas. By July 1937, their affair ended and Trotsky and Rivera soon reconciled. By the following year, thanks in part to André Breton and Jacqueline Lamba's visit to Mexico where they saw Kahlo's work, Kahlo's first major exhibition took place overseas. Since receiving the painting, it has become one of the museum's most famous works. It has been loaned to exhibitions at the Inter-American Development Bank's cultural center, the National Gallery of Australia, and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. The latter focused on the works of Kahlo, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Emily Carr, representing Mexico, the United States, and Canada, respectively. In 2007, the NMWA presented an exhibition on Kahlo's work. In addition to Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky, there were photographs and private letters available for viewing. Additional activities included learning Mexican dances, viewing the film "The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo", and watching the Maru Montero Dance Company perform. In the early 2020s, the NMWA underwent a $67.5 million renovation. The museum reopened in October 2023 with Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky returning as a centerpiece of the NMWA's collection. It is the only Kahlo painting in a Washington, D.C., museum's permanent collection. ==Description==

The oil on masonite painting measures 30 inches tall and 24 inches wide (76.2 cm × 60.96 cm). Kahlo stands poised and confident in the painting. Its setting is inspired by retablos, devotional paintings of religious figures. The letter reads "To Leon Trotsky with great affection, I dedicate this painting November 7, 1937. Frida Kahlo. In San Angel. Mexico."(Para Leon Trotsky con todo cariño, dedico esta pintura el dia 7 de Noviembre de 1937. Frida Kahlo. En San Angel. México.) The date is not only Trotsky's birthday, but the 20-year anniversary of the October Revolution, . Her outfit consists of a dress worn by Zapotec women from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and was considered to be more subdued compared to other self-portraits. Her top consisted of a huipil, a commonly worn item amongst indigenous women in Mexico and Central America, which is red with green trimming. The huipil also features a bejeweled pendant, though her beige rebozo, similar to a shawl that symbolizes womanhood, covers most of the top. White trimming and white flowers also embroider her coral pink enaguas (petticoat). Kahlo's hairstyle resembles that of women from the Tehuantepec region, being braided and adorned with a pink flower and red ribbon. She is wearing gold earrings and makeup, including bright red lipstick and pink rouge, as well as red fingernail polish. She also has one ring on her right hand. Analysis According to Josefina De La Torre from the Fashion Institute of Technology, "her ensemble blends late-30s beauty trends with traditional clothing." Hank Burchard writing in The Washington Post described Kahlo's expression as "solemn bordering on baleful", but also "hard and respectful." Burchard interpreted the painting as a way of Kahlo showing her survival instinct in an art world dominated by men, including her own husband. Sarah Milroy from The Globe and Mail wrote that the painting demonstrates Kahlo's satisfaction with the affair she had with Trotsky, but noting the overall tone is tame compared to her other works. In 1938, Breton wrote about how deeply moved he was by the painting: "I have for long admired the self-portrait by Frida Kahlo de Rivera that hangs on a wall of Trotsky's study. She has painted herself dressed in a robe of wings gilded with butterflies, and it is exactly in this guise that she draws aside the mental curtain. We are privileged to be present, as in the most glorious days of German romanticism, at the entry of a young woman endowed with all the gifts of seduction." Because Kahlo destroyed all other evidence of her and Trotsky's affair, the painting is the only tangible evidence it took place. Author and historian Hayden Herrera believes Kahlo gave the painting as a way of teasing Trotsky, especially by being dressed "fit to kill" along with wearing makeup. Another historian who specializes in Kahlo's life, Robin Richmond, has a different view. He thinks that Kahlo is dressed quite conservatively, and it was a way of her vying for Trotsky's attention. Richmond also thinks she was portraying another version of herself, and that the painting is "quite terrifying" because she was being calculative with its intent. In her book, Devouring Frida: The Art History and Popular Celebrity of Frida Kahlo, Margaret Lindauer writes these types of opinions are judging the painting by her looks. Richmond also considers Kahlo's infatuation with Trotsky more as a hero figure, rather than as a revolutionary, perhaps because she was too naïve to understand the facets of Trotskyism. Meanwhile, Trotsky is viewed as a towering figure and powerful man. The fact Kahlo added the date of the October Revolution on her painting suggests she was very aware of his political views, and supported them herself. ==See also==