Urban Landscape

Frida Kahlo painted Urban Landscape in 1925, after a stint in hospital following an accident in which the bus she was traveling on hit a tram. The work was acquired by the National Art Museum in 2010.

Frida explores the modernization of Mexico City in this piece, by contrasting the electricity cables against the vertical lines of the buildings.

The subtle moon and the tones of the sky suggest sunrise, and are evocative of Frida's Self Portrait Along the Boarder Line Between Mexico and the United States, in which she also paints constructions, but in a Mesoamerican style.

Despite depicting an outdoor scene, the warm ocher tones give it a feeling of intimacy.

This piece may have been painted from indoors, given that the constructions that it captures are no more than two stories high.

"Frida's urban vision—fractured and broken—reveals that the city is no longer a background but a medium. Incidentally, and perhaps involuntarily, she condemns the impossibly authoritarian and totalitarian vision of 'upright man'. There are no more landscapes, only passageways," says architect and editor Alejandro Hernández about this work.