Self Portrait with Monkey

One of her 55 self portraits, this oil painting depicts the artist with her beloved pet spider monkey, Fulang-Chang. After various health complications from a tragic bus accident in 1925 left her unable to have children, she turned to her exotic pets as surrogate offspring who resided with her in her home, Casa Azul, in Coyoacan, Mexico City. Inspired by Mexicanidad, a romantic Mexican nationalist movement, many of her self portraits were composed in the typical bust-length style of colonial paintings but would subvert the role of the subject and setting to emphasize the importance of indigenous cultures.

Creator: Frida Kahlo

Date: 1938

Original Medium: Oil on Masonite

Original Size: 19 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 1 1/2 in.

Location: Albright-Knox Art Gallery