Analyzing a Painting

While reading the introduction in The Annotated Mona Lisa by Carol Strickland, I was able to learn new ways of viewing artwork. I learned that there is a difference between sight and insight, where the public can often take art for granted. When viewing art, one should focus on the color, composition, mood, and lighting. I was able to use the tips provided to analyze one of my favorite paintings by Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo is commonly known for her intricate self portraits. In her painting, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird created in 1940, one can analyze the movement, color and light/ dark contrasts, and mood. In her portrait, Frida remains still, despite having a thorn necklace around her neck, and shows no sign of distress or pain. This suggests she is silently enduring pain and remaining calm and patient. She endured an accident when young and had to deal with multiple surgeries throughout her lifetime. Frida also uses bright colors as her background to represent the life around her but the hummingbird on her necklace is dark and represents death. The bird can symbolize her freedom which died and became tangled on her thorn necklace. Frida's facial expression sets the mood as she remains solemn which reflects not her physical pain, but her suffering from lack of freedom. By using the tips I learned from the chapter, I was able to better understand one of my favorite paintings.