Oil and tempera on zinc
Kahlo reimagined what a family tree might look like in this painting, illustrating her biological lineage and showing herself as a zygote, fetus, and child. Her maternal grandparents, of mixed Indigenous and Spanish descent, are superimposed above the Mexican mountain ranges, while her German paternal grandparents float over the Atlantic Ocean. Kahlo paintedthis work a year after Nazi Germany enforced the Nuremberg Race Laws, effectively stripping Jewish peoples of their civil rights and prohibiting interracial marriage—falsely substantiated by a genealogical chart that determined who was Jewish according to bloodlines. Kahlo’s interpretation of a family tree is a counter to such violent, supremacist ideas.
Vital Signs: Artists and the Body, November 3–February 22, 2024
Kids label from 2023
Kahlo shows her Mexican and German heritage with a family tree. On the left, you see her mother and grandparents over the landscape of Mexico. On the right, you see her father and grandparents over the sea, symbolizing her father’s journey from Germany to Mexico. The artist painted herself as a child in the center, holding a red ribbon that connects her to the various generations of her family. What differences do you notice between the two sides of the painting? What people and symbols might you include in your own family tree?
Provenance Research Project
This work is included in the Provenance Research Project, which investigates the ownership history of works in MoMA's collection.
The artist; sold through Julien Levy Gallery, New York to Allan (1906-1975) and Beatrice Roos, New York and San Francisco, 1938 [1]; acquired by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1976 (Gift of Allan Roos, M. D., and B. Mathieu Roos).
[1] Included in the exhibition Frida Kahlo, Julien Levy Gallery, New York, November 1-15,1938, no. 7 (My Family).
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