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The Wounded Deer by Frida Kahlo

 


Frida Kahlo is a sensational Mexican artist who composed this oil painting named 'The Wounded Deer' in 1946. In this painting, Frida uses a deer with her own head attached to it and it is severely wounded by multiple arrows. The background shows a forest with long trunks of trees and a little water shore. There is a stormy, lightning-lit-sky in the distance but it seems as if the deer can't really reach it. Frida had many pets of which deer were her favourite. And her muse for this particular painting was her pet deer, Granzio.

This painting reflects the turmoil she was in after a spine operation of hers had failed. It is generally thought to portray her disappointment towards the failure of this operation. She was also well accustomed to Aesop's fable which she has metaphorized here. She was hopeless regarding her health condition and felt very lonely and depressed due to it. She lived her life centred around hospitals and was in never-ending pain and a constant threat of illness. Her smashed pelvis had disallowed her to have children as she faced miscarriages and abortions whenever she conceived. She was also abandoned by the man she loved the most, Diego. As an escape from all the sufferings of her life, she painted. She painted self-portraits showcasing the agony she lived in throughout her lifetime.

I love art that speaks pain. Maybe, that's why this art piece caught my eye while I was just surfing the internet. I feel like it represents all the people who have nothing in their lives going the way that they want it to. It lets them know that they are not really alone through it all and that there are others who feel just like they do. And I love the fact that this art and many of the artworks out there help spread this message.

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