Frida Kahlo is a famous Mexican artist most known for her multiple self-portraits which would capture whatever she was going through at a particular point in her life. Throughout her career, Kahlo was always remembered as just the wife of Diego Rivera. Never the artist Frida Kahlo. It was only after her death that she earned the recognition and praise her art deserved during the 1980’s neomexicanismo artistic movement. One of her most famous pieces is “Las Dos Fridas” or “The Two Fridas”. The elements in the background, the subject, as well as other minor details tell the story behind the painting. 

In the background of “Las Dos Fridas”, the storm clouds make it immediately evident that Frida, who is the subject, is going through a hard time in her life at the moment. There are two separate elements to the storm clouds. The first is that there are clouds and the second is the dark sky behind them. The clouds are the confusion she is going through at this point in her life. This painting was done right after Frida and Diego were divorced so of course Frida is confused about where her life goes from there and who she will become now that she is a single woman again. The dark sky behind the cloud is representative of the dark period she is going through. She just divorced from a man who she was in love with since she was a young woman so it is normal for her heart to feel dark and for her not to be super happy with her life right now.

The main subjects of this painting are the two versions of Frida Kahlo. Both European fashion dressed Frida and Mexican fashion dressed Frida has a warm color to their skin tone. This is important because the under tones in skin and the color skin can depict the emotion and spirit of the subject. Because Frida’s skin tone is still warm, it gives me the impression that even though she is hurting she has not lost her fighting rebel spirit. She is still the same Frida but just going through a rough time. 

Another important factor about this painting is the most obvious one. There are two different versions of Frida. The Frida on the left is the European version of Frida. She is more modern about the things she wears and her overall mentality. Even her wearing a white dress is a symbol of a more “pure” and “virginal” version of herself. Frida on the right is the opposite. This version of Frida embraces her traditional Mexican culture more now wearing the traditional Mexican clothing in bright colors. This version of Frida is more free and expressive of who she is. The two Frida’s represent the two sides of who she is. One is a version of Frida loved deeply by her now ex-husband, Diego Rivera, while the other is a version he could not connect with.

Even though these two versions of Frida are different they are still very much connected to each other. The attaching bloodlines and holding hands is proof that there is no way to separate the two Frida’s. They are one in the same and there is no denying that. Looking deeper into the connection of their bloodlines, they are attached at the heart. Mexican, traditional Frida is doing fine and is put together, not bleeding like European Frida. This Frida’s heart is completely broken which is why she is bleeding on her dress and doing the best she can to stop the bleeding using a clamp. Her heart is bleeding because this is the Frida that Diego didn’t love. He wanted the rebellious Mexican Frida instead which is why she is holding a locket containing a picture of Diego Rivera in it. That is the Frida Diego will stick with.

Her different body languages also portray an important message. Frida dressed in white has a more feminine posture. Her face even seems more feminine and beautiful unlike Mexican Frida who seems to have a more defined and structured face. Her posture is also more masculine. From the way she is sitting it looks like her legs are spread open similar to the way we would imagine a man to sit. Another testament to her openness about who she was and her free spirit.

An important aspect about this painting is how open the hearts are. This painting was meant to be an emotional testament to who she was as a woman and how vulnerable she was at this point. Her heart is truly open and out there for Diego but he betrayed her with his multiple affairs, including one with her sister which led to their divorce. 

Frida Kahlo was known for her paintings of self-portraits portraying how she felt at a specific moment in time and “Las Dos Fridas” is no exception.  Using her color palate, minor details, body language, and other artistic elements, she once again allows the viewer an insight into how she felt, who she is, and the struggles of being the wife of a Mexican communist. 
