The technique used in cactus fruit art is naïve art or primitive. This is because the painting was done to show Frida's struggles in life. She portrayed a lot of innocence and pain in this painting that shows she was suffering. The materials used in this painting are oil and masonite. The use of oil for painting was preferred as it made all the colours look great and have a contrast. Additionally, you can see how beautiful the colours contrast to each other.
In this painting, Frida paints cactus fruits to show her feelings and struggle. Although they are simple fruits at first glance when you take a closer look, you will notice that on fruit is bleeding. This shows the pain and suffering Frida was going through as it can be seen on the open bleeding wound of the fruit. Most of Frida's paintings form her biography and show her emotions, struggles and life challenges. This painting shows her suffering in a more profound sense although she uses simple fruits to illustrate this. She shows how the fruits open wounds are bleeding to show her life challenges.
The cactus fruit painting is part of a private collection owned by Mary Schapiro- Sklar. She bought this painting from Khalo’s exhibitions in the Julien Levy Gallery back in 1938. She fell in love with the painting illustrations and how it looked. Frida has been an inspiration to women all over the world. Most women can associate with most of her paintings and develop an understanding of where she was coming from. Her paintings are inspired by indigenous Mexican culture that uses bold colours and symbolism. The cactus fruit painting is more than just fruits on a plate. It shows the suffering and life challenges that Frida went through.
