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Primary sourcePainting1937

Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky

Frida Kahlo · 1937

A 1937 self-portrait by Frida Kahlo, given as a birthday gift to the exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky.

A self-portrait Kahlo gave to Leon Trotsky, documenting her political engagement and personal life.

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Full-length painting of a woman standing on a wooden floor between white draped curtains against a green background. She wears a rust-brown shawl, a red blouse, and a pink skirt with white ruffled hem, holding a small bouquet and a handwritten paper. Her dark hair is decorated with flowers.
Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky, 1937. National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting was made by Frida Kahlo in 1937 and given to Leon Trotsky on his birthday. It is now held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.

Why it matters

Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera helped arrange for Trotsky and his wife to live in exile at Kahlo's family home, Casa Azul. The gift records Kahlo's political sympathies and her brief personal relationship with Trotsky. After his assassination, Kahlo nearly destroyed the painting before a friend persuaded her to let it be saved.

Look closer

  • What details in the painting suggest it was meant as a personal gift rather than a public artwork?
  • Why might Kahlo have chosen to paint herself standing between curtains, as if on a stage?
  • What does the story of this painting's survival tell us about its emotional importance to Kahlo?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Frida Kahlo on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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An open diary with an orange cover displayed in a glass case. The left page has handwritten Spanish text in blue ink about Hieronymus Bosch and Bruegel. The right page has a blue ink drawing of a winged figure with a spiral-wrapped leg and a small bird, with handwritten captions below.Diary entry

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Black-and-white studio portrait of a woman with dark hair pulled back and braided on top, wearing hoop earrings, several strands of beaded necklaces, and a textured wrap or shawl. She looks directly at the camera with a serious expression, hand visible at lower right.Photograph

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Frida Kahlo, by Guillermo Kahlo

Guillermo Kahlo

Blue-walled building with red trim and a green double door under a sign reading MUSEO FRIDA KAHLO. A green-barred window sits to the left, a tree trunk stands in front, and a stone base runs along the bottom.Artifact

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Frida Kahlo Museum (La Casa Azul)

1958

Glass display case in a museum showing six mannequins wearing traditional Mexican-style embroidered dresses and blouses with full skirts in purple, red, and pink tones, with a small label panel in front.Artifact

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Frida Kahlo's Tehuana Dresses at the Casa Azul

Painting in an orange wooden frame. A nude woman with dark hair lies on a bed with white sheets, her body marked with red spots of blood. A man in a dark hat and white shirt, also spotted with blood, stands beside the bed holding a small object. A banner above reads 'UNOS CUANTOS PIQUETITOS!' with a white dove at left and a black bird at right. The floor is yellow-green and the walls are pale with a blue baseboard. Signed 'Frida Kahlo 1935' at lower right.Painting

Primary source

Unos cuantos piquetitos

Frida Kahlo · 1935

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