Frida Kahlo
1907-1954
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who depicted the indigenous culture of her country in a style combining Realism, Symbolism and Surrealism. An active communist, she was married to Mexican muralist and cubist painter Diego Rivera. She is widely known for her self-portraits, often expressing her physical pain and suffering through symbolism.
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón, as her real name was, was born in 1907 in her parents' house. Her father, Guillermo Kahlo, was from Germany, who upon his arrival to Mexico changed his German Wilhelm to its Spanish Guillermo. Frida's mother, Matilde Calderón y Gonzalez, was a devout Catholic of primarily indigenous descent mixed with Spanish. Guillermo and Matilde gave birth to four children, where Frida was the third of their four girls. Throughout most of her life, Kahlo was close to her father.
In 1922, Kahlo was enrolled in the Preparatoria, one of Mexico's premier schools in Mexico City. In September of 1925, Kahlo was riding in a bus when the vehicle collided with a trolley car. She suffered serious injuries in the accident. Though she recovered from her injuries and eventually regained her ability to walk, she was plagued by relapses of extreme pain for the remainder of her life. She would undergo as many as 35 operations in her life, mainly on her back and her right leg and foot.
After the accident, Frida Kahlo turned her attention away from the study of medicine to begin a full-time painting career. She painted to occupy her time during her temporary state of immobilization. Her self-portraits became a dominant part of her life "I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best". While Kahlo's paintings have a distinct unrealistic quality, she insisted "I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality." It is evident that her paintings reveal a personal truth about her life, her experiences. Kahlo was deeply influenced by indigenous Mexican culture, which is apparent in her paintings' bright colors and dramatic symbolism. She frequently included the symbolic monkey: in Mexican mythology it was a symbol of lust. She combined elements of the classic religious Mexican tradition with surrealist renderings.
As a young artist, Kahlo approached the famous Mexican Diego Rivera, and asked him for his advice on pursuing art as a career. He immediately recognized her talent and her unique Mexican expression. He encouraged her development as an artist, and began an intimate relationship with Frida. They were married in 1929. Active communist sympathizers, Kahlo and Rivera befriended Leon Trotsky as he sought political sanctuary from Joseph Stalin's regime in the Soviet Union.
A few days before Kahlo died on July 13, 1954, she wrote in her diary: "I hope the exit is joyful - and I hope never to return - Frida."
Frida Kahlo has inspired many artists. Edward Weston, Héctor García, Imogen Cunningham, Manuel and Lola Alvarez Bravo, Nicholas Murray, and Guillermo Zamora have all photographed Frida. Many Chicana/o artists have included versions of her self portraits in their work, among them Rupert García, Alfredo Arreguín, Yreina D. Cervántez, Pietro Psaier, Marcos Raya, Gilbert Hernandez, and Carmen Lomas Garza.
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