Critique # 2

When observing Frida Kahlo’s “The Two Frida's, the viewer is instantly taken to a very dark warm setting where the sky is as dark as ash with clouds the color of a light colored smoke. The sky is made up of a various amount of grays, blacks, and blues. The scene seems to be of heartache and pain with two ladies, almost completely identical, sitting on a green, wicker bench. One of the women is in a white dress with red flower embroidery at the bottom. She has scissors in one hand along with a cut vein bleeding out, leading partially to the heart, while the other is hand in hand with the woman sitting next to her. On her right breast her shirt is torn, and her heart is out and cut open. Then a vein from the heart flows up behind the woman’s neck and links to the heart of the other woman. The woman on the right has a royal blue and yellow striped blouse and an olive covered dress, which contrast to the lack of color with the women on the right’s dress. Her heart also of a dark shade of red is on the right side of her chest, but is still fully in tact, with a vein slewing down her right arm. The woman on the right also has a picture of Frida’s husband in her right palm. The picture is balanced with the mirroring images of the two women in comparison of each other both who appear similar looking, hearts in the same place linked by a single vein, and their hands held together in the center. The background unconsciously puts the viewer in a peaceful mood, but the foreground brings out the heartache to the observer.

The immediate vocal point is the two women in the center. Their linked hands suggest that were or are close. The heart that is cut open along with the vein that was cut, suggests that the connection that once linked the two is now being destroyed and is bleeding out. The contrast in colors of dresses suggests the two are now very different from each other and have other ideas and aspirations. The picture of Frida’s husband in the woman on the right’s hand suggests that the picture is depicting the relationship that was failing between Frida and her husband, especially since the painting was painted during the time of Frida’s divorce. The darkness of the background suggests that the situation is unpleasant and painful.

This piece could incite many narratives. The background makes the scene seem painful and dark. The observer imagines the story of the painting, they see two identical ladies who are in the warm summers night whose hearts are braking slowly as they are trying to hold on through the holding of hands as long as possible, even though their hearts are long beyond repair. The scene is depressing and heartbreaking. Overall, Frida is able to tell a heartbreaking and painful story through the artwork she has created.