a look at

The Wounded Deer Painting

who was frida kahlo?

Frida Kahlo quickly became one of the most revered female artists of the 20th century. Her art has been categorized in a variety of art movements.

historical overview

The Wounded Deer was painted in 1946, during a time in her life when she experienced disappointment and undoubtedly feelings of hopelessness.

a wedding gift

Kahlo reportedly painted The Wounded Deer as a wedding present to her friends Arcady and Lina Boytler. She also wrote an accompanying note to them, which she left them a portrait to remember her by.

symbolism

Some of the more common references include the Christian religious reference to Saint Sebastian. The deer was believed to be modeled after Kahlo’s pet deer called Granizo.

SUBJECT MATTER

Frida Kahlo’s The Wounded Deer painting depicts a deer, specifically a stag, as the central figure; however, the head is human, and more specifically that of Frida Kahlo’s.

COLOR

The color scheme in The Wounded Deer by Frida Kahlo consists of more earthy colors like browns, beiges, greens, blues, and red, as well as neutrals like white.

TEXTURE

Frida Kahlo included a variety of implied textures in “The Wounded Deer” painting. The painting is on a two-dimensional surface; therefore, texture can consist of the “tactile” qualities of the paint on the canvas.

LINE

Diagonal and curved lines appear from the tree branch lying in the direct foreground as well as the deer’s antlers, and legs, and the arrows puncturing its skin.

shape and form

Shape and form as elements of art can appear as organic (natural) or geometric (artificial or “manmade”). In The Wounded Deer by Frida Kahlo, organic shapes and forms are dominant.

space

Space is composed of the foreground, which highlights the central figure of the deer and Kahlo, and the background which depicts the ocean and the lightning bolt.