FRIDA KAHLO
1907 -1954
Frida Kahlo was born in Coyoacan in 1907 and was one
of the best painters of surrealism. Frida Kahlo at eighteen
suffered a terrible accident that left her unable to walk
but thanks to this event during his recovery he learned to
paint, she married the famous muralist Diego Rivera
soon became pregnant, but miscarried in 1932, is a
woman who suffered much as it had a leg amputated,
could not have children and gave his love
bronchopneumonia was Diego Rivera. It is the most
important painters of our country and although
classified as surrealist painter she said she did not paint
dreams but the reality of her life Frida Kahlo died in 1954
in his blue house in Coyoacan.
Some of his works are:
The Bus
1929
In this colorful painting, the influence of Rivera's style of art is clear.
Frida depicts the various classes of Mexican society and daily life as
Rivera does in his murals.
Frieda and Diego Rivera
1931
This folkloric style double-portrait may have been based on their wedding
photograph. It was completed about two years after their marriage while Frida
and Diego were in San Francisco.
Henry Ford Hospital
(The Flying Bed)
1932
On July 4th, 1932, Frida suffered a miscarriage in the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
In this disturbing work, Kahlo paints herself lying on her back in a hospital bed after
a miscarriage. The figure in the painting is unclothed, the sheets beneath her are
bloody, and a large tear falls from her left eye. The bed and its sad inhabitant float in
an abstract space circled by six images relating to the miscarriage.
My Grandparents,
My Parents and Me
1936
This is the first of two family portraits in which Frida was tracing the history of
her ancestry. She appears as a little girl in the courtyard of the Blue House in
Coyoacan, Mexico, where she was born
Portrait of Diego Rivera
1937
This is a portrait of Frida's husband, the famous Mexican muralist Diego
Rivera. At the time this portrait was painted Diego was 51 years old.
However, in this portrait he appears to be much younger. Also, Diego
was tall, heavy and larger than life. In this painting he appears much
thinner.
Self Portrait with a Monkey
1938
In Mexican mythology, the monkey is the patron of the dance, but also a
symbol of lust. Here, however, the artist portrays the animal as a living, tender
and soulful being with its arm placed protectively around her neck.
The Two Fridas
1939
Shortly after her divorce from Diego Rivera, Frida completed this selfportrait of two different personalities. In her diary, Frida writes that this
painting originated from her memory of an imaginary childhood friend.
Later she admitted it records the emotions surrounding her separation and
martial crisis.
Self Portrait with
Necklace of Thorns
1940
In this painting, Frida paints herself in a frontal pose to enhance the immediacy
of her presence. She has unraveled Christ's crown of thorns and wears it as a
necklace, presenting herself as a Christian martyr. The thorns digging into her
neck are symbolic of the pain she still feels over her divorce from Diego.
The Broken Column
1944
This self-portrait is in sharp contrast to Frida's other self-portraits in that
she is all alone… no monkeys, no cats, no parrots, and no background of
protective leaves and plants. Instead, Frida stands all alone crying on a
vast baron plain beneath a stormy sky. Perhaps it's her way of saying that
she must deal with her physical and emotional pain on her own.
Without Hope
1945
A lack of appetite resulting from her many surgeries and numerous
illnesses, left Frida very thin. Her doctor, Dr Eloesser, prescribed
complete bed rest and a fattening diet of puréed food every two hours.
In this painting, the artist portrays what she considered to be a "forced
feeding" diet.
Self Portrait
1948
This is Frida's second self-portrait in which she appears wearing the
traditional Tehuana headdress that Diego loved so much. In this portrait,
the lace ruff closes off space and makes her look trapped.
Portrait of Frida's Family
(1950 -1954)
This painting was actually started sometime in the 1940s but never
finished. Frida worked regularly on this family tree portrait during a long
spell in the hospital in 1950 and continued to work on it until her death in
1954. When her older sister Matilde died in 1951, she stopped work on
this painting and started working on a new painting;
Self-Portrait with the
Portrait of Doctor Farill
1951
This painting is a portrait of Frida with her surgeon Doctor Juan
Farill. This was her last signed self-portrait.
Still Life
with Watermelons
1953
Frida was painting these "still life" works during periods of pain. She
was, for the most part, confined to her bed, very sick and heavily
medicated.
Viva la Vida,
Watermelons
1954
Most all Kahlo books agree that this is Frida's last painting and that 8
days before her death she added the inscription "Viva la Vida - Coyoacán
1954 Mexico". However, because of the quality of this still life, I was
never convinced that it was painted in 1954.
The house where Frida Kahlo
lived and died
FRIDA AND DIEGO
PHOTOS
WITH A GREAT SPIRIT.
LEAVING A GREAT LEGACY FOR
MEXICO AND THE WORLD.
BY
IVANNA ARELLANO REYES.