Self-Portrait with Loose Hair - Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo's 1947 self-portrait captures the artist's direct gaze and flowing hair, painted after her divorce from Diego Rivera. The work includes a personal inscription, grounding it in a specific time and place.

Painted in 1947, Frida Kahlo's *Self-Portrait with Loose Hair* presents the artist in a characteristically direct and unflinching manner. Kahlo's gaze meets the viewer's, framed by her dark, flowing hair, which is notably 'loose', suggesting a departure from her more traditional, tightly braided styles. The painting was created after her divorce from Diego Rivera, and the unkempt hair may allude to her emotional state. The artist wears a Tehuana-style blouse, a nod to her Mexican heritage, rendered in a geometric pattern of yellow over a red underlayer. A trailing vine of leaves hangs to the left of the composition, contrasting with the mottled, stone-like background. At the bottom, a scroll bears an inscription in Spanish, identifying the artist and stating her age at the time of painting: 'Here I painted myself, Frida Kahlo, with the image of the mirror. I am 37 years old, and it is the month of July of nineteen forty-seven. In Coyoacán, Mexico, the place where I was born.' This inscription adds a layer of personal narrative, grounding the work in a specific time and place. The painting is a powerful statement of identity, resilience, and self-representation.