Frida Kahlo: Fulang-Chang and I

Generous loan from the the Museum of Modern Art, New York

In this painting, Kahlo portrayed herself with one of her pet spider monkeys, said to represent the children she was unable to bear with her husband, Diego Rivera. This painting was featured in Kahlo’s first exhibition in the United States in 1938, held at Julien Levy Gallery, New York. In the accompanying catalogue Surrealist poet André Breton described Kahlo’s work as “a ribbon around a bomb.” Upon giving the painting to close friend Mary Sklar, Kahlo added the mirror with a painted frame so that through Sklar’s reflected image they could always remain together.

Fulang-Chang and I, 1937 (assembled after 1939)
Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907–1954)
Oil on composition board, mirror and painted frame added after 1939; framed painting, 22 1/4 x 17 3/8 x 1 3/4 in. (56.5 x 44.1 x 4.4 cm); framed mirror 25 1/4 x 1 3/4 in. (64.1 x 4.4 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Mary Sklar Bequest, 277.1987.a.-b.
© The Museum of Modern Art / Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, New York. © 2016 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D. F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York