As many may know, artists around the world have produced work that has had a lasting effect for generations. From century to century, we have been able to accumulate numerous amounts of emotions, symbolism, and pure talent from the works of art they throw out to us. Frida Kahlo, a famous Mexican painter, was known for putting out art that pertained to her own life. Within these works, she portrayed thousands of feelings through loads of symbolism ranging from monkeys to a simple “masculine” haircut. Analyzing her work allowed us to feel her emotion rather than just hear it from her.
Frida was born on July 6th, 1907 in Coyoacan, Mexico. Her father, Guillermo Kahlo, was originally known as Wilhelm Kahlo. Being of German-Lutheran descent, he decided to change his name to it’s Mexican translation. He immigrated to Mexico in 1891 at only age 19. Frida’s mother, Matilde Calderon, was a devout mexican catholic. She and Guillermo married one year after the death of his first wife. Although they weren’t too happy together, they had 4 girls together. Two of them were older than Frida and one was younger. They grew up in a poor neighborhood in which was fought in during the Mexican Revolution.
Her mother would rush them into the house as shootings happened up the street. She’d also feed revolutionaries who would hop the fence so oftenly. Frida had claimed that she was born in 1910 so that people would automatically link her to the war even though she was actually three at the time. At age six, Frida was diagnosed with Polio and Spina Bifida. Her right leg became thinner than her left due to the sickness. The children at her school nicknamed her “Peg-Leg Frida” which caused her to wear long skirts constantly.
Kahlo attended a primary school, Colegio Aleman, a German chool in Central Mexico, near Mexico City. She then enrolled in la Escuela Preparatoria Nacional in 1922 wanting to become a doctor. This school was in Mexico City, an hour bus ride away from her home town in Coyoacan. She was only one out of the 35 girls in that school, which had over 2,000 students enrolled. In the beginning, she thrived to be one of the intellectuals. As time went on, she grew tired and bored of the teachers. She formed a group, Cachuchas, of students made up of 7 boys and 2 girls. Within the group, she fell in love with the leader named Alejandro Gomez Arias.
She was expelled from her school on account of a prank that her group was involved in, but got the suspension revoked before her parents found out. She was looking forward to her senior year and was already planning on attending med school. But the infamous bus crash destroyed her dreams. While on a bus with Alejandro, a streetcar collided with a bus. She was painfully impaled in the hip by a steel handrail. It went completely through her uterus leaving her practically infertile for the rest of her life. Even when Frida did carry a child, it ended in a miscarriage. The accident also left her with spine and pelvic fractures.
They all shared the same views as her and she fell in love with the leader Alejandro Gomez Arias. She spent weeks in the Red Cross Hospital of Mexico and was in a full body cast for 3 whole months. She painted herself as she was bedridden for those weeks. Frida stated that “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best. ” The first time Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were in the same vicinity was when Rivera worked on a mural for Kahlo’s school. As she watched with astonishment, reports say she said she’ll have his baby to one of her friends.
They then reconnected at a Communist party in 1928. The two talked for a while and Rivera praised her work. Diego said she should continue her career as an artist. Their first marriage was a civic ceremony at the Coyoacan town hall on August 21, 1929. Her mother who didn’t approve of the marriage didn’t attend the ceremony. The only attendee was Kahlo’s father. In 1939 Frida had the realization that Revera only gave her attention when she was sick or in pain. She tried to feign severe back pain and Rivera filed for divorce. Surprisingly, that divorce was short-lived and they remarried in 1940.
She said she’d re-marry him under two conditions, no sex and she’d not accept any of his money. They remarried on Diego’s birthday, December 8. On their wedding day, Frida exclaimed,”Diego is not anybody’s husband and never will be, but he is a great comrade”. They were actually separated for most of the rest of their lives and had many affairs. Frida’s long lasting mark in Mexican culture and the artistic world was created by her beautiful and exquisite paintings. Many pieces of her artwork would later come to influence groups of people in the future such as artists and feminists.
One, if not the most, famous painting of Frida’s would have to be The Two Fridas. The Two Fridas was painted in 1939 and It is arguably the most popular artwork done by Frida. This painting shows the two very different personalities of Frida. One totally distraught due to the divorce of her beloved husband, Diego Rivera, The same one is also dressed in traditional clothing and the other Frida is independent and dressed in modern clothing. This painting was very famous and sold in 1947 to the National Institute of Fine arts in Mexico City for $1000, the most Frida has ever gotten for a painting in her lifetime.
Another famous painting would be the Self Portrait with Cropped Hair. Self portrait with Cropped Hair was created in 1940. She made this painting shortly after she cut her hair and one month after her and divorced her only husband, Diego Rivera. The reason why she cut her hair was because Diego was known to like her with long hair. She painted herself in men’s clothing and in a “masculine” haircut and contrasted it with high heeled shoes and women’s earrings. Many people said that she did this because it was a way of decelerating her self-reliance and independence.
Another famous painting would have to be Roots. The painting Roots was painted in 1943 to symbolize that all life flows in one direction. She often connected herself to nature. Her open torso grows vines out which feed on her blood and help quench the thirsty earth. The cracks in the ground help symbolize the drought which would be eradicated with some blood. Another famous painting of her would be The Wounded Deer which was painted in 1946. In the painting The Wounded Deer, she shows her as a deer wounded with many arrows.
This painting is believed to be her symbol of her operation not working properly on her back. She also writes in the lower left corner, “Carma” which would translate to destiny. She then gave this painting to her friends as a wedding gift with a note that stated, “I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you”. The final painting clearly have to be the painting Diego y Yo. Diego y Yo is a painting painted in 1949 about the affairs that he had with other people while he was married to Frida.
In the painting it is shown that she is crying, most likely about Diego and his affairs. Diego in the painting has three eyes because the third eye open to Diego’s neediness for affairs. After a few months since her first solo exhibition in Mexico, Kahlo’s world fell apart due to the gangrene that had infected her leg. Due to the illness the doctor had to amputate her right leg from the knee to stop the gangrene from spreading. In April of 1954, Frida Kahlo was put in the hospital due to some health complications.
Although, some speculations have been surfaced to think that maybe Frida was in the hospital because of a suicide attempt due to her depression. Two months after her leaving the hospital, she was reinstated due to bronchopneumonia, a condition in which you have bronchitis and pneumonia at the same time. This illness left her bedridden but that did not let her stand in the way of her political beliefs. Her final appearance was at a public demonstration to help overthrow the Guatemalan president on July 2nd. Several days before Frida’s death, she wrote in her diary a strong statement
Roots was painted in 1943 to symbolize that all life flows in one direction. She often connected herself to nature. Her open torso grows vines out which feed on her blood and help quench the thirsty earth. The cracks in the ground help symbolize the drought which would be eradicated with some blood. Another famous painting of her would be The Wounded Deer which was painted in 1946. In the painting The Wounded Deer, she shows her as a deer wounded with many arrows. This painting is believed to be her symbol of her operation not working properly on her back.
She also writes in the lower left corner, “Carma” which would translate to destiny. She then gave this painting to her friends as a wedding gift with a note that stated, “I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you”. The final painting clearly have to be the painting Diego y Yo. Diego y Yo is a painting painted in 1949 about the affairs that he had with other people while he was married to Frida. In the painting it is shown that she is crying, most likely about Diego and his affairs.
Diego in the painting has three eyes because the third eye open to Diego’s neediness for affairs. After a few months since her first solo exhibition in Mexico, Kahlo’s world fell apart due to the gangrene that had infected her leg. Due to the illness the doctor had to amputate her right leg from the knee to stop the gangrene from spreading. In April of 1954, Frida Kahlo was put in the hospital due to some health complications. Although, some speculations have been surfaced to think that maybe Frida was in the hospital because of a suicide attempt due to her depression.
Two months after her leaving the hospital, she was reinstated due to bronchopneumonia, a condition in which you have bronchitis and pneumonia at the same time. This illness left her bedridden but that did not let her stand in the way of her political beliefs. Her final appearance was at a public demonstration to help overthrow the Guatemalan president on July 2nd. Several days before Frida’s death, she wrote in her diary a strong statement that stands as a powerful quote today, “I hope the exit is joyful – and I hope never to return – Frida”. She then died on July 13.
Most say that her official cause of death was pulmonary embolism but they also talk about other illnesses such as the illness I mentioned before. Frida died in Coyoacan, Mexico City, the same city she was born in. Currently, her ashes are being held in her former home, The Blue House, on display for any visitors. Many people to this day still speculate that Frida Kahlo died by committing suicide by overdosing or it could have been accidental overdosing. An autopsy was never done on her body for she was cremated soon after. Today Frida’s legacy still remains, constantly inspiring new artists in the generations to come.