|
|
|
||
|
In 1939, Kahlo told the art historian MacKinley Helm that Henri Rousseau was her favorite modern painter and that My Grandparents, My Parents, and I was influenced by Rousseau's The Present and the Past. In his painting, Rousseau depicts himself and his wife, Josephine, standing behind a flowering tree. Above the couple, on fluffy clouds in the sky, the artist's formerly bearded face is set alongside that of his first, deceased wife, Clemence. Both Kahlo and Rousseau emphasize the matrimonial bond as the foundation of the family unit. Both artists include trees – perhaps symbolic of the family tree – in symmetrical compositions that portray personal identities and family relationships. Both artists portray the self as a changing entity that evolves over time. |
|
|
|||
|
|
|
||
Copyright © 2003 The Jewish Museum
