The Art of Art: Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column

1. Elements of Art Line Shape and Form Space Texture Value and Light Color Time Organizing Principles Repetition Variety Rhythm Balance Compositional Unity Emphasis Proportion Relationship to the Environment The Art of Art:Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column

2. In order to make these art pieces fit into our format, we need to select art from which we can readily draw a theme. In The Broken Column, we might conclude that “For women within patriarchy, life is painful and fraught with vulnerability” is a potential workable theme. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944 Image from: http://www.urtonart.com/history/frida-y-diego.htm

3. Line Lines of woman Lines of straps Hold her together Dissect her, as well Lines of Ionic Column Represent her spine Associated with ancient Greece, an extreme patriarchy Direct our eyes upward Lines of background and Skirt More subtle Depict terrain as dry and harsh Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944 Image from: http://www.urtonart.com/history/frida-y-diego.htm

4. Shape and Form Illusion of Form Female figure appears to be placed before the background, skirt swirls before her legs Shapes are clearly distinguishable, hard-edged, and concrete Only skirt, hair, and breasts depict softness Shape Shapes suggest this woman is alone, vulnerable, and in pain, but also that she is strong. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944 Image from: http://www.urtonart.com/history/frida-y-diego.htm

5. Space Figure-Ground Relationship Woman as figure: Emphasizes the woman’s object status Horizon Line Begins at her neck, further emphasizing the column and the tear in her skin as the main subject of the painting Direct Point-of-View Shows us the message is clear, accessible, and un-obscured Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944 Image from: http://www.urtonart.com/history/frida-y-diego.htm

6. Texture Simulated Textures Hair, skin, and fabric are smooth Terrain is made up of varying rough-seeming textures Details of the nails/pins suggest sharp metallic textures Ionic column texture is rough, crumbling, and broken Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944 Image from: http://www.urtonart.com/history/frida-y-diego.htm

7. Value and Light Value Interpretive and dark, lending an air of depression and/or desperation Lighting Appears to be simulation of sunlight on a cloudy or overcast day Source is before and above the female subject Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944 Image from: http://www.urtonart.com/history/frida-y-diego.htm

8. Color Limited Palette Majority of work, object and terrain background, are warm colors in the yellow,orange, brown, red spectrum. These are used locally, to represent what we think of as the reality of the situation. Woman’s skirt/bandages are pastel pink and white. Ground is a sandy and rocky brown Her skin is dark but with elements of pink, to resemble the skin of humans who live is warmer climates. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944 Image from: http://www.urtonart.com/history/frida-y-diego.htm

9. Color, continued Warm vs. Cool Colors The warm skin and terrain colors are broken up by cooler colors By the white color of the bandages, that dissects the female By the bluish-purple sky, which appears to be the second dominant, weighing down on the female in the painting, pulling in or limiting our view to her figure. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944 Image from: http://www.urtonart.com/history/frida-y-diego.htm

10. Time Illusion of Movement The only hint of movement we get from this painting is the flow of the skirt before the female figure. Otherwise, the painting, and the woman, is very static. The ground seems unchangeable, the woman herself, as one might expect with the stiff rocky column of her spine, does not seem very mobile at all. She is trapped by her very body into a life of little movement, pain, and harsh realities. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944 Image from: http://www.urtonart.com/history/frida-y-diego.htm

11. Final Analysis of Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944: Teaches us that life for women under patriarchy is destructive and painful. Lines hold her together while simultaneously dissecting her, much as patriarchy defines and destroys women Concrete shapes define her rigid place in the world Her position emphasizes her object status within the painting and within patriarchy The sharp and harsh textures show how vulnerable the softer aspects of the woman are in the given environment. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944

12. Final Analysis, continued The darker subtle values and the absence of bright lighting on the subject show the entrapping nature of the woman’s position within patriarchy. The warm colors of the subject are interrupted and segmented by the brilliant whites of the bandages, and the cold dark sky seems to press the female subject down into the ‘frame” of the painting. The woman’s injuries suggest that painting’s static nature; the woman is trapped within herself, just as she is trapped within patriarchy. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944

13. John William Waterhouse’s “I am Half Sick” Frida Kahlo’s The Love Embrace of the Universe Paintings to AnalyzePlease pick one of the paintings below to use for your form to content paper

14. Grant Wood’s American Gothic Pablo Picasso’s Harlequin Family with an Ape