1. The Art of Art: Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column
Elements of Art
Line
Shape and Form
Space
Texture
Value and Light
Color
Time
Organizing Principles
Repetition
Variety
Rhythm
Balance
Compositional Unity
Emphasis
Proportion
Relationship to the Environment

2. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944
In order to make these art pieces fit into our format, we need to select art from which we can readily draw a theme.
In The Broken Column, we might conclude that “For women within patriarchy, life is painful and fraught with vulnerability” is a potential workable theme.
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3. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944
Repetition
Lines of straps
Several are needed
Cultural pressure is constant
Cracks within the Ionic Column
The more cracks, the more fragile
Associated with ancient Greece, an extreme patriarchy: pressure on women to look and act is constant
Bare breasts
Vulnerability, objectification
Highlight femaleness (otherness)
Nails
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4. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944
Variety
Head
Turned to left (feminine side) but ear shows on right (masculine side)
Skirt
Flows from left to right
Background
Terrain shapes are different from one side of figure to the other
Notice green on left side to suggest fertility much less present on right
Nails
Each turned in different direction
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5. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944
Rhythm
Predictable pattern
Corset-like straps
Breasts
Ionic column details
Nails, flow upward from left
Balance
Distribution of visual weight
Largely symmetrical
Arms, body, straps
Few asymmetrical elements
Ear, skirt
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6. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944
Compositional Unity
Simple triangle
Pulls eyes upward
Contains the most dramatic element
One eye
Two breasts
Torso with column and straps
No Arms
Places the mouth off center toward the left
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7. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944
Emphasis
Rectangle within triangle
Focal point (dominant contrast) is chest elements
Viewer is directed, or constrained, as is the female figure
Economy
No extraneous details
Barren landscape, no jewelry, skirt covering most private parts
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8. Frida Kahlo’s The Broken Column, 1944
Proportion
Body seems to be proportioned correctly
“Regular” woman
Relationship to the Environment
How the art is, itself, displayed can add to or detract from the piece’s meaning
How does seeing the piece in a PowerPoint presentation with a ‘marble’ background affect your sense of the piece’s theme?
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