Window Display In A Street In Detroit, 1931 - by Frida Kahlo

The lion and stallion in Window Display In A Street In Detroit nearly take after ceramic and terracotta figures in Frida's personal collection. This painting seems, by all accounts, to be a straightforward "still life" painting of objects in a store window. Then again, the subjects are very energetic and perhaps an allegory of the United States.

The painting is unmistakably dated "1931", however, Frida was in New York in 1931 and wasn't in Detroit until 1932. She may have begun the painting in New York and afterward completed it in Detroit. Frida's companion Lucienne Bloch remembered being with Frida in New York when they saw the presentation window that motivated this painting.

In a later interview, Frida commented about the painting:

In Detroit, I painted a very ugly painting that gives me a lot of sadness when I see it, of a showcase with many things in it."