Tote Bag - Self-portrait dedicated to Dr Eloesser - Frida Kahlo

Take a piece of Frida Kahlo's history and talent with you with this colorful tote bag that's sure to turn heads.

Frida Kahlo
Self-portrait dedicated to Dr Eloesser
1940

Dimensions
15" x 17.5"
38 cm x 44 cm

Material: Canvas
Care instruction: Washable. Dry flat.

About Self-Portrait, Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser
Painted in 1940, Frida Kahlo’s Self-Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser has its origins in a friendship born of illness: between 1930 and 1931, while living in San Francisco, the artist was treated by Dr. Leo Eloesser, a renowned physician who cared for her as she dealt with the persistent physical complications resulting from the terrible bus accident she had suffered as a young woman. What began as a medical relationship evolved into a lasting and deep friendship, and it was as a token of gratitude to her “doctorcito” that Kahlo presented him with this portrait.

Depicting herself standing, with a direct and confident gaze, dressed in a purple huipil adorned with pre-Hispanic motifs, she thus affirms her attachment to her Mexican roots and indigenous symbolism. Behind her, a cloudy sky and a bare background suggest that while the storm of her physical suffering seems to have subsided, the wounds themselves remain present.

About Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo’s life story is almost as popular as her art. Born in 1907, Frida Kahlo was a self-taught Mexican painter best known for starkly depicting her chronic physical and emotional pain through her art. Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits. Kahlo said, “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.” Although she rejected the label, she is often identified as a Surrealist.