Details
The image
A portrait composed rather than observed: the face frontal, the hair and clothing treated as pattern, leaves and flowers arranged around the figure so that the frame becomes part of the subject. Colour is dense and the composition is symmetrical, almost heraldic.
Where it comes from
Mexican painting of the first half of the twentieth century used the portrait as a stage: costume, plants and objects arranged so that the sitter stood for more than one person. The approach drew on folk art and on religious votive painting and it gave exhibition posters of the following decades a visual vocabulary that needed no explanation.
On the wall
It brings colour and a face into a room, so it suits a living room, a studio or a hallway that can take both. Because the composition is symmetrical, it wants a wall where it can sit on its own axis rather than beside a corner. In a group it should be the piece that anchors the arrangement.
In company
Pairs well with textiles and with warm walls and it holds a wall alone. Other sheets in the Iconic collection work the same way on a wall.Avoid hanging it beside abstract work, the figure needs company that can look back.
