Portrait of Alicia Galant (1927)

Portrait of Alicia Galant (1927)

Oil on canvas 107 x 93cm. 42" x 36 ½" Dolores Olmedo Patiño Museum Mexico City, Mexico

When Frida first began painting, she painted portraits, mostly of close friends and members of her immediate family. This highly stylized portrait of her friend Alicia Galant is painted in the style of a 16th century Italian Renaissance portrait, similar to the style use by Bronzino and Botticelli, two artists that Frida greatly admired. The aristocratic pose seen in this portrait, and others of the time, was probably inspired by Bronzino's painting "Eleonora di Toledo". The dark gloomy background in this painting shows signs of the Art Nouveau style that was popular at the time.