| The Broken Column | |
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| Artist | Frida Kahlo |
| Year | 1944 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Location | Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico |
| Dimensions | 17 x 13 in 43 x 33 cm |
| Famous Paintings by Frida Kahlo | |
| The Suicide of Dorothy Hale, 1938 | |
| Roots, 1943 | |
| The Two Fridas, 1939 | |
| The Bus, 1929 | |
| Moses, 1945 | |
| The Wounded Deer, 1946 | |
| The Broken Column, 1944 | |
| Without Hope, 1945 | |
| Complete Works |
The Broken Column is a self-portrait executed in 1944 painted in a surrealist style by the artist Frida Kahlo, who was born in Mexico in 1906. It is in private ownership. It is a small work that measures 16.9 inches by 13 inches, and is an oil painting on canvas.
Background
Kahlo’s best-known works are possibly her self-portraits, which are very striking and portray a stark realism. The Broken Column is just one of her paintings that was inspired by a horrific accident the artist was involved in when she was eighteen.
Kahlo was traveling on a bus that collided with a tram. A metal railing on the bus was driven upwards through the artist’s leg and abdomen, causing multiple fractures.
Composition
The artist is standing in a surreal landscape. She is almost naked. Tears fall from her eyes. A broken, tapering, stone column divides the body from the lower abdomen to the chin. A number of nails pierce the visible parts of her body.