Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was born Magdalena Carmen on 13th of July 1954 in Coyoacan, Mexico. Her father was Guillermo Kahlo and her mother was Matilde Calderon y Gonzalez. Frida Kahlo always maintained that her father, Guillermo was of Hungarian-Jewish ancestry but in actual fact his family was Lutheran Germans. The young Guillermo had changed his name when he arrived from Germany in Mexico in 1891. Matilde, Frida’s mother was a devout Catholic of primarily Amerindian, as well as Spanish descent. Frida often said, ‘I grew up in a world surrounded by females’. However, it was her father to whom she remained closest throughout her life.

Frida’s life was quite tragic inasmuch as she suffered from severe ailments, including Polio when she was just six years of age. This left her with a deformed right leg which she often tried to disguise under long skirts and colorful dresses. There has been much conjecture that Kahlo also suffered from Spina Bifida but given the fact that she enjoyed vigorous sports such as boxing , etc. this would not appear to be the case. In 1925 Kahlo suffered life threatening injuries when the bus she was riding on collided with a trolley car. Her injuries included eleven fractures in her right leg, broken pelvis, broken ribs, broken collar bone, dislocated shoulder and a dislocated right foot. She also suffered injuries to her abdomen, so severe that she would never be able to bear children. Remarkably, Kahlo survived her injuries and eventually learned to walk again but she was plagued by chronic pain for the rest of her life. So intense was the pain that she spent many months in hospital beds or bedridden at home.

Until the accident in 1925 Kahlo had been studying medicine but as she convalesced she turned to painting as a career – She found it therapeutic and it helped distract her from the pain of her injuries. Her mother had a special easel made for her and her father gave her some oil paints and brushes. It is perhaps not surprising, given the fact she was so often alone in her room, that self portraits became a dominant part of her life and that her works are characterized by their stark portrayal of pain. Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits portraying both physical and psychological wounds.

Kahlo once said, "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best”

"I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality."

Mexican culture was to greatly influence Kahlo’s work which is apparent with her use of dramatic symbolism and the use bright colors. She often included the symbolic monkey in her work but rather than portray them as in Mexican culture as symbols of lust, she portrayed them as protective and tender symbols. Jewish and Christian themes are common in her work. Often characterized as folk or Naive, she embraced the tradition of both the Mexican and Amerindian cultures.

Kahlo combined surrealist renderings with the classic, religious Mexican tradition. In 1939 Andre Breton invited her to France where her work was being exhibited. When the Louvre bought one of her paintings Kahlo became the first artist of twentieth century Mexico to have sold an artwork to such a prestigious gallery.

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