In this self-portrait, Mexican artist María Izquierdo faces us against a mottled red background that feels like warm plaster. Her medium-brown skin is modeled with careful light and shadow while her strong dark brows arch over deep-set brown eyes that look straight out, steady and appraising. She wears matte red lipstick and a closed-mouth expression that reads as composed rather than welcoming. Her hair is braided and wrapped around her head, bound with a multicolored rebozo in earthy greens, reds, and tans. Squared shoulders in a glossy black dress anchor the composition. The dress has a broad, square neckline edged with embroidered white lace that reveals her neck and upper chest. At her ears hang bell-shaped earrings, and around her neck sits an elaborate silver-toned choker and pendant ensemble of stacked plaques, studs, and dangling tassels that evoke pre-Hispanic jewelry. The symmetrical pose, front lighting, and tight framing turn her body into a calm, monumental presence. Painted in the mid-1940s, this work belongs to a period when Izquierdo, already a leading figure of Mexican modernism and the first Mexican woman to have a solo exhibition in the United States, used self-portraiture to assert artistic and cultural authority. Critics like Octavio Paz described her appearance as that of a “pre-Hispanic goddess,” and here she leans into that, combining modern portraiture with references to Indigenous adornment, Catholic votive imagery, and popular dress. The heavy pectoral and stark black gown suggest ritual armor as much as fashion, while the red backdrop intensifies associations with blood, devotion, and sacrifice. In 1946, Izquierdo was recovering from professional setbacks after male muralists blocked her from a major public commission. This painting is a refusal to be diminished. Instead, she is dignified, self-possessed, and rooted in Mexicanidad on her own terms as a pioneering feminist voice who broke clichés of Mexican womanhood.

“Autorretrato (Self-Portrait)” by María Izquierdo (Mexican) - Oil on canvas / 1946 - Private collection (Mexico) #WomenInArt #MariaIzquierdo #Izquierdo #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists #art #artText #artwork #arte #BlueskyArt #MexicanArt #SelfPortrait #ModernArt #MaríaIzquierdo #MexicanArtist

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Self-portrait (1940)

Maria Izquierdo, Portrait of Mary Asúnsolo (1941). Oil and masonite on canvas, 76 x 60 cm. Museo Blaisten, Mexico.
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In her self-portraits, Mexican artist María Izquierdo manifests the pride she feels for her roots. Her brown skin, traditional dresses and hairstyles with braids adorned with flowers are constant, with passive emotions and you could even say melancholy. She, like many artists in Mexico in the early 20th century, explored the roots of being "Mexican" as seen in this 1940 self-portrait where the artist wears a dress that reminds us of the regional costume of the state of Veracruz making a high contrast to the red rebozo (shawl) that surrounds her, recalling in turn the colors of the Mexican flag: the white of peace wrapped in the red of the blood shed by the brave who defended it. A mountainous landscape characteristic of her paintings gives atmosphere to the scene and next to it a column where a horse figurine, like those of wood she used as a model for her paintings, looks directly towards her. This portrait was presented at an exhibition in Lima, Peru in 1944. María Izquierdo wasn't just any Mexican painter, even though some people refer to her as “the other Frida.” She is famous for being the first Mexican woman to have her work exhibited abroad at the Art Center in New York in 1930. She committed her life and career to painting the Mexican roots and to have her name among the important figures of the mexicanismo such as Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco or David Alfaro Siqueiros. Izquierdo painted landscapes, still lifes, portraits and, obviously, self-portraits, some of her works are clearly on surrealist subjects, almost always characterized by intense colors. Izquierdo only painted herself with her family or alone. In her self-portraits, she wanted to highlight her indigenous features by wearing traditional ornaments that she wore also in her daily life. To her, it was a gesture of resistance (similar to Frida Kahlo) to the accelerated urbanization of the country, that relegated the traditional clothing to the rank of costume.

Autorretrato by María Izquierdo (Mexican) - Oil on canvas / 1940 - Colección Blaisten (Mexico City) #womeninart #selfportrait #art #oilpainting #Izquierdo #MexicanArtist #artwork #MaríaIzquierdo #ColecciónBlaisten #MexicanArt #womensart #womanartist #MariaIzquierdo #femaleartist #womanpainter #1940s

In 1947, Mexican artist María Izquierdo produced some of her most memorable works including this self-portrait. Her position in the lower half gives greater importance to the veined blue and gray of the cloudy background. The yellow and ocher tones of the dress and the beauty of her face complement the blue tones of the sky, giving greater intensity to the shades. Izquierdo does not wear necklaces or earrings and sports a very simple golden brown dress, without a collar or trim. The lack of ornamentation harmonizes with the rest of the canvas including the monotonous panorama and the melancholic sky. This austere painting has a close connection with the nightmare scene of Izquierdo’s 1947 “Dream and Premonition” where the artist leans out of the frame of an empty window, holding her own head in the air. The expression of the artist in both paintings, and her hairstyle, with the characteristic yellow ribbon, are similar. Frequently, self-portraits had a dominant role in Mexican art of the twentieth century, an alleged tendency contrary to the importance given by muralists to public education and national history. For a long time, artists have used this genre for self-esteem and a way of expressing themselves, but in Mexico, the possibility of self-portrait as a vehicle for imagination and identity construction gave new verve to the genre. The artist's study partner at the School of Fine Arts in 1928, was art curator Fernando Gamboa who organized an exhibition of 45 self-portraits by Mexican painters in September 1947 at the Palace of Fine Arts, in which Izquierdo participated. Izquierdo was particularly interested in Mexican paintings of the 19th century and in whose portraits and self-portraits there is often a recognition of the strong personality of her predecessors, such as José María Estrada.

Autorretrato (Self-portrait) by María Izquierdo (Mexican) - Oil on canvas / 1947 - Museo Colección Blaisten (Mexico City) #womeninart #art #selfportrait #womanartist #oilpainying #MaríaIzquierdo #MariaIzquierdo #ColecciónBlaisten #MexicanArtist #womensart #portraitofawoman #femaleartist #MexicanArt

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