Two Nudes in the Forest

1939

Frida's ambivalent sexuality may serve as the motif for this painting. She had several lesbian friends and made no attempt to conceal her bisexuality, even from her husband Diego. The light-skinned woman rests her head on the lap of the darker-skinned nude while from the undergrowth, the women are being watched by a monkey; traditional symbol of sin, the devil and animal sexuality. Or, perhaps the painting may not be sexual at all but instead the two women are aspects of Frida's duality, the European and the Mexican Indian, the comforter and the comforted. The same two nude figures in this painting also appeared in an earlier painting "What the Water Gave Me".

The painting was a gift for her intimate friend, Mexican film star Dolores del Rio. This painting was originally titled: "The Earth Itself".

It is unclear to me if either one of the women in this painting is Frida. Neither have Frida's signature uni-brow.

In 1989, this painting was auctioned by Sotheby's with an estimated selling bid of $120,000 - $160,000. It sold for $506,000 to Mary Anne Martin, the owner of a New York Art Gallery that specialized in Latin American Art. The pop star "Madonna", who at the time was buying and collecting Kahlo art, was the underbidder.

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Oil on metal
óleo sobre metal

25 x 30,5 cm
10" x 12"

Collection of
Jon and Mary Shirley

Colección de
Jon y Mary Shirley

La sexualidad ambivalente de Frida podría servir como el motivo para esta pintura. Frida tenía varias amigas lesbianas y nunca intentó esconder su bisexualidad, ni siquiera de su marido Diego. La mujer de piel clara reclina su cabeza en el regazo de la mujer desnuda con piel más oscura, mientras que desde la maleza, las mujeres están siendo vigiladas por un mono; tradicional símbolo de pecado, el diablo y sexualidad animal. O, quizás, la pintura podría no tener nada de sexual sino que en cambio, las dos mujeres son aspectos de la dualidad de Frida, la europea y la india mexicana, la mujer que da consuelo y la que tiene necesidad de ser consolada. Las mismas dos figuras desnudas también aparecieron en una pintura anterior, “Lo que el agua me dio”.

La pintura fue un regalo para su amiga íntima, la estrella de cine mexicana Dolores del Río. Este cuadro se tituló originalmente "La tierra misma".

No está claro para mi si alguna de las mujeres en este cuadro son Frida. Ninguna tiene la típica única ceja de Frida.