L'œuvre en bref

This work was commissioned from Frida Kahlo in 1938 by Clare Boothe Luce, a friend of the actress Dorothy Hale, who had committed suicide by throwing herself from a New York skyscraper. Clare wanted a commemorative painting, but Frida chose to depict the suicide scene head-on, with a precise and raw narrative. On receiving the painting, the commissioner was shocked by the explicit depiction of the tragedy. Although originally rejected, the work is now one of Frida's best-known for its tragic power.

The painting shows the body of Dorothy Hale lying on the ground, her head bloodied, dressed in a black dress. In the background, the top of a skyscraper emerges from the clouds, showing the silhouette of the woman in freefall, represented three times at different stages of her fall. The scene is framed by a painted faux frame, and at the bottom Frida has inscribed a text describing the exact circumstances of the death. The whole combines narrative, pain and visual rigour, in a silent, heavy atmosphere.

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