Frida Kahlo painted Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress in 1926.
The painting is widely regarded as Kahlo’s first adult self-portrait. She created it while recovering from the serious injuries caused by her 1925 bus accident, which left her largely confined to bed and encouraged her to begin painting more intensely.
In the portrait, Kahlo presents herself against a dark background while wearing a red velvet dress with a long, stylized neckline. The work shows influences from European portrait traditions, especially the elongated forms associated with artists such as Sandro Botticelli and Modigliani.
Kahlo gave the painting to Alejandro Gómez Arias, her former boyfriend and an important figure in her early life. The portrait is sometimes confused with later self-portraits because Kahlo repeatedly used herself as a subject, but this 1926 work marks an especially early stage of her development.