Portrait of
Agustin Olmedo

1927

During the first 6 months of 1927, Frida painted several portraits of friends and family. This little known and rarely seen portrait is of Agustin Olmedo, a close friend of Frida and Alejandro and also a member of the group known as "Cachuchas". The subject's pose is in a similar Renaissance style that Frida used in her own 1926 painting "Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress". The background, however, is very plain and unlike backgrounds Kahlo used in her other paintings. This is probably one of her earliest portraits from that year as in this portrait she has not yet perfected her skills. As you can see in the painting his left eye is slightly larger than the right eye.

The painting has sustained some damage in the center of his jacket. The damage was inflicted by Kahlo herself when she learned that Agustin was badmouthing her by saying that "she isn't worth not even a cent".

Oil on canvas
13 ½" x 15 ¾"
Frida Kahlo Museum
Coyoacán, Mexico

Óleo sobre lienzo
79 x 59 cm
Museo Frida Kahlo
Coyoacán, México

Durante los seis primeros meses de 1927, Frida pintó varios retratos de amigos y familia. Este retrato poco conocido y raramente visto es el de Agustín Olmedo, un amigo cercano a Frida y Alejandro y también un miembro del grupo conocido como los Cachuchas. La pose del sujeto es de un estilo renacentista similar al que Frida usó en su retrato de 1926 "Autorretrato con traje de terciopelo". El fondo, no obstante, es muy sencillo y diferente de los fondos usados por Kahlo en sus otras pinturas. Este probablemente es uno de sus primeros retratos de ese año, ya que se ve en este retrato que ella no ha perfeccionado sus habilidades. Como se puede apreciar, su ojo izquierdo es ligeramente más grande que el derecho.

El retrato parece haber sufrido daño en el centro de la chaqueta. El daño lo hizo la misma Kahlo cuando se enteró de que Agustín estaba hablando mal de ella y diciendo que no "valía ni un centavo".