Frida Kahlo
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Born in Mexico
around the time of the Mexican
Revolution in 1906, Frida
would grow up to be very
politically motivated.
Frida contracted polio as a
young girl, causing one of her
legs to be very thin. She often
wore long skirts to cover her
misshapen leg.
She grew healthier and
returned to school, but one
day, - after classes at high
school - she was in a terrible
bus accident. A pole from the
bus went through her body,
crushing her pelvis and
damaging her legs. She had to
stay in a full body cast for
months.
During that time, she began to
paint…
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Every day for months, Frida lay
in bed, unable to move around
the house or go to school.
Her father got her paints and
encouraged her to try and
entertain herself.
She began by decorating her
body cast, a habit that stayed
with her any time she was
confined to bed throughout her
life.
Frida was a natural painter.
Having little else to paint, she
started to paint self-portraits.
Her self-portraits became her
specialty and they are now the
reason she is so well-known.
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Frida was in chronic pain after recovering from her accident. She underwent many
surgeries throughout her life to correct the damage done to her body.
She wore girdles made of metal because the doctors said they would help her pain,
but they only made things worse. In many of her self-portraits, Frida appears to be in
pain. She was trying to show how her accident always affected her.
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Frida’s life was difficult,
but she also found great
happiness in it.
She married Diego
Rivera, a famous
Mexican muralist, and
was said to be “madly in
love” with him.
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Many people thought
Frida and Diego were
a funny couple
because Frida was so
beautiful and Diego
was thought to be
funny-looking.
Frida loved Diego
because he was so
talented and
interested in many of
the same things in
which she was
interested.
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Frida and Diego fought a lot and eventually divorced, only to remarry one year later. They stayed
together until Frida died, but sometimes lived in separate houses (next door to each other) to keep
from fighting so much!
Here they are with their pet monkey.
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Frida always enjoyed the
natural beauty of Mexico.
She took pride in her
country and loved to be
surrounded by all kinds
of wildlife.
She had pet iguanas,
parrots, dogs, monkeys,
cats, and many others!
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Kahlo channeled her energy and emotion into
her artworks and her many pets – monkeys, dogs,
birds and a fawn – which lived at her home, Casa
Azul in Coyoacán, Mexico City.
• Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self portraits
which feature her treasured animals and
incorporate symbolic portrayals of physical
and psychological wounds.
• - most famous is her Self Portrait with
Monkeys from 1943.
Self Portrait with Monkeys 1943
Kahlo is surrounded by three black spider monkeys, their arms
wrapped around her. In Mexican mythology, monkeys are symbols
of lust, but Kahlo portrayed them as tender and protective
symbols.
Mascotas
• Frida had a spider monkey named Fulang Chang (a
gift from Diego Rivera) and another, Caimito de
Guayabal.
• -The species is recognized by disproportionately long
limbs and long Prehensile tail and are normally found
in the tropical forests of Central and South America.
• -In general, monkeys are widely considered to be
unsuitable for the home environment.
• -Guests visiting the home of Kahlo and Rivera would
often be entertained by Fulang Chang, or Bonito, the
Amazon parrot, who would perform tricks at the table
for rewards of pats of butter.
My Parrots and I 1941
• -At Casa Azul, Rivera constructed a small pyramid in
the garden where her pets roamed around freely.
• -She also had a fawn called Granizo; an e eagle
named Gertrudis Caca Blanca ; parakeets, macaws,
hens and sparrows.
• -She also kept hairless Mexican ixquintle – including
her favorite, Mr Xoloti
• – the ixquintle is a breed of dog with an ancestry
traceable back to the Aztecs, hence their appeal to
Kahlo, who was enormously proud of her
MesoAmerican heritage.
•
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