Two Nudes in a Forest

Painting by Frida Kahlo

Two Nudes in a Forest
Dos desnudos en un bosque

Artist	Frida Kahlo
Year	1939
Type	Oil on metal
Dimensions	25 cm × 30.5 cm (9.8 in × 12.0 in)
Owner	Jon and Mary Shirley

Two Nudes in a Forest is an oil painting by Mexican painter Frida Kahlo that was completed in 1939. It is also referred to as The Earth, Two Nudes in the Wood, or My Nurse and I.^[1] The painting was given to a close woman companion of Kahlo's,^[2] who some believe to be actress Dolores del Río. The two women in the painting also appear in Kahlo's 1938 painting What the Water Gave Me, and her spider monkey, which views the couple from the forest, also appears in Kahlo's 1937 Fulang-Chang and I.

In May 2016 the painting was sold for $8 million at the Christie's auction in New York.^[3]

Interpretations

The two naked women in the painting, one dark-skinned and one light-skinned, are viewed as representations of Kahlo's ethnic identity as connected to her indigenous roots, but also her European ancestry,^[2] something that is also explored in The Two Fridas. The painting also brings attention to Kahlo's bisexuality, something she expressed openly in her paintings, as in Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair, and in her sexual affairs.^[4]

References

^ Souter, Gerry (2011). Kahlo. New York: Parkstone International. ISBN 9781780420875. OCLC 758334725.
^ ^a ^b Herrera, Hayden (1991). Frida Kahlo: The Paintings. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060166991. OCLC 23141304.
^ "Frida Kahlo painting fetches record $8 million at NYC auction". Fox News. 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
^ Lindauer, Margaret A. (2011). Devouring Frida: the Art History and Popular Celebrity of Frida Kahlo. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819563477. OCLC 767498280.

Frida Kahlo

Paintings

Self-portrait in a Velvet Dress (1926)
Frieda and Diego Rivera (1931)
Henry Ford Hospital (1932)
My Dress Hangs There (1933)
Memory, the Heart (1937)
Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky (1937)
The Frame (1938)
Self-Portrait with Monkey (1938)
The Suicide of Dorothy Hale (1938)
What the Water Gave Me (1938)
The Two Fridas (1939)
Two Nudes in a Forest (1939)
Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940)
The Wounded Table (1940)
The Broken Column (1944)
The Wounded Deer (1946)
Self Portrait with Loose Hair (1947)
Diego and I (1949)
The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego, and Señor Xolotl (1949)