In this video, we will explore the controversy that her work endured during the 40s as her fame grew. We will explore three of her 1940s paintings in depth to question the allegations many critics made regarding the apparent decay of her initial proposals. To help you navigate this video, we recommend you answer the following questions as you watch it.
1. How did her work change after her breakup with Tamayo?
2. Why do you think she chose that particular subject matter in her series “Nocturnos”?
3. Why do you think the words of Artaud became so important in the reading of their work in the future?
4. How is the composition of the work “Mi Tia, un amiguito y yo?
5. Why do you think she depicted her aunt in such a way? Why the emphasis on her clothes?
6. Why do you think she depicted herself in that manner?
7. Why do you think the background was portrayed in those colours?
8. Why do you think her work changed so much in the 1940s?
9. What were the circumstances that led to that change?
10. What was the perspective of writers like Debroise and Poniatowska on her work during that decade? Why do you think they say that?
11. Why do you think Elisabeth Ferrer defended the opposite perspective during Izquierdo’s retrospective?
12. Why did she leave behind her earthly colour pallet to use more complementary colours like Henri Rousseau instead?
13. How is the composition of the work “Mis Sobrinas”?
14. What happens if we read her still life within a particular Mexicanist aesthetic?
15. Why do you think she chose those particular objects in the work “The Jewellery Box”? What do you think that selection tells us?
16. How did the work of Georgio De Chirico inspire her aesthetic?
17. How is the composition of the painting The Indifferent Child?
18. Why do you think she depicted that child in such a matter?
19. How does her gaze and attitude clash with her colour scheme?
20. How does the background inform the composition?
21. What was her distinct perspective on art?
22. How is the composition of the work Dream and Premonition?
23. How did she depict herself and her body?
24. What did this painting foretell?