The Frame (painting)

The Frame (El marco in Spanish) is a 1938 self-portrait by Frida Kahlo.^[1] The painting features Kahlo's self-portrait in oil on a sheet of aluminum framed in glass which she purchased from a market in Oaxaca, Mexico.^[2] Although the glass frame is included as part of the painting, the flowers, birds, and other details on the frame were painted prior to being purchased by Kahlo.^[3]

The Frame
Spanish: El marco
Artist	Frida Kahlo
Year	1938
Type	Oil on aluminum, framed in glass
Dimensions	28.5 cm × 20.7 cm (11.2 in × 8.1 in)
Location	Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris

The painting is notable as the first work by a 20th-century Mexican artist to be purchased by a major international museum, when it was acquired by the Louvre in 1939. The painting is now shown at the Musée National d'Art Moderne in the Centre Pompidou in Paris.^[4] It was the only sale Kahlo made in her Paris exhibition.^[5] Upon Kahlo's death in 1954, the New York Times stated that she was "said to have been the first woman artist to sell a picture to the Louvre."^[3][6]

See also

• List of paintings by Frida Kahlo
• The Frida Kahlo Museum (La Casa Azul)