By Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo’s 1938 painting “Girl with Death Mask (She Plays Alone)” resides in Nagoya City Art Museum in Japan. In it, the girl is wearing a mask one might see during the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) in Mexico. The Day of the Dead is on November 2nd, where those living commemorate the memory of the dead by celebrating them.
The mask the girl wears is reminiscent of La Calavera Catrina (“The Elegant Skull”) that is commonly associated with the Day of the Dead. While the Catrina is a zinc etching from 1913 by Jose Guadalupe Posada, the image of the feminine skull has become a touchstone for the seemly morbid celebrations.
This little girl appears to be very young; in some analysis of the painting, it is speculated in is a self-portrait of Kahlo as a child.  She is aware of life in that it leads to death and there is an element of resignation in her pose that says, “I know you’re coming, I accept you.”