Frida Kahlo's iconic self-portrait returns to UT's Harry Ransom Center
AUSTIN, Texas — Frida Kahlo’s “Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird” returns home at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.
The painting by the Mexican artist was on loan for five months at an art museum in South Africa.
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Frida's selfie has been featured in countless museums in the United States and countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Spain, and Italy.
The university acquired the Frida self-portrait in 1966.
It was part of the photographer, Frida's lover, and friend Nickolas Muray's collection.
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He purchased the painting to help the Mexican artist during a difficult financial period.
The painting is part of the Ransom Center's Nickolas Muray collection of more than 100 works of modern Mexican art, including other Kahlo paintings, "Still Life with Parrot and Fruit" (1951) and the drawing "Diego y Yo" (1930).
The self-portrait will be displayed in the Ransom Center's lobby for the foreseeable future.
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Frida Kahlo painted “Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird” after her divorce from Diego Rivera and at the end of her affair with Muray.
The work reflects the influence of her ‘mestizo’ heritage: the Catholic symbol of the thorns is combined with Kahlo’s indigenismo politics, which is suggested by the ‘natural’ elements of flowers, leaves, a cat, and a monkey.
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If you'd like to learn more about Frida's self-portrait at the Harry Ransom Center, click here or here.
IF YOU GO:
- Frida Kahlo’s “Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird”
- Free
- Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin
- 300 West 21st Street
- Open Tuesday to Sunday