Frida Kahlo

                                            Self Portrait 1926                                                

          Frida Kahlo was born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón on July 6, 1907, in Coyocoán, Mexico City, Mexico. Her father, Wilhelm,also referred to as Guillermo, was a German photographer. Her mother was Matilde. She had two older sisters, Matilde and Adriana, and a younger sister, Cristina.
Around the age of 6 Frida contracted polio. She was bedridden for nine months. She did recover from the polio but was never the same again she walked with a limp because the disease had damaged her right leg and foot.Frida was considered one of Mexico’s greatest artist. Her paintings began after her bus accident. She had her bus accident at the age of 18. “…my pelvis was smashed, my spinal cord mangled, and I was sewn back together but was crippled for life.” Guerrilla Girls pg.78) She had numerous surgeries to repair the damages but still faced challenges.

The Broken Column

          “Since I faced a life of suffering, I decided to make it my cross to bear. Instead of letting my infirmities keep me from fulfilling my ambitions, I used them as fuel for my art.”(Guerilla Girls pg.78) Frida had a great way of depicting her pain through her artwork. She didn’t allow her pain to bring her down but instead used it to make a name for herself. I think she did a really great job in doing so. Her art feels so real. She uses self-portraits of herself and depicts her pain in multitudes of ways. As a viewer you can feel the pain yourself. Frida made her pain public so people could understand who she was. She not only depicted her pain from her accident but also the pain from her marriage. She didn’t have the perfect marriage with her husband Diego Rivera. Also, because of the bus accident Frida couldn't carry a child to full term so she had multiple miscarriages. Frida although had some great work did face some difficulties when it came to her art being exhibited. In this time it wasn't easy for women to get to show their art. Frida had her first exhibit the year before she passed away.

                                            My Birth 1932                                              

        Frida opened up a new door to many contemporary artist. She showed people not to be afraid of the things you are going through in life. She never let her injuries or her miscarriages stop her. Instead she’s showing everyone that bad things dont have to stop you but you can use them to keep moving forward. That’s what Frida did, she used her art to move forward. She let people see the real her even if thats not what they were use to seeing. She majority of the time used herself in her paintings the reason being as she said, "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.” Since Frida suffered a lot of health issues she spent a lot of time on bed rest healing so she spent a lot of time by herself. This time alone created much inspiring work.

In the book “Frida Kahlo: The Gisèle Freund Photographs” they quote Frida’s life in a great way, “She was a formidable being, but in great distress … not only because of the physical pain due to her terrible tram accident [Kahlo suffered serious injuries after riding on a bus that collided with a trolley in 1925] but because she was a deeply conflicted being. She loved men, but did not turn away from women. She would shower you with gifts large and small, ranging from a charm, a tiny brass ex-voto, or a good luck stone to pre-Columbian pottery, as well as the heavy jewelry that she was crazy jabout … One day she told me: I don’t want to live a long time. I am really suffering too much.”(Schwiegershausen) Frida was a strong individual. She used her weakest times in her life as strengths for her artwork. She was a very passionate women. She had a big heart. She dealt with a lot in life but even though she was so positive about her situations the pain and suffering got to her at some point.It was becoming to much to bear she didn't want to suffer anymore.

Frida lived a very painful life but despite all that she made a name for herself. Her artwork was amazing and she never gave up. After death Frida wasn't forgetting,“Since her death, Kahlo’s fame as an artist has only grown. Her beloved Blue House was opened as a museum in 1958. The feminist movement of the 1970s led to renewed interest in her life and work, as Kahlo was viewed by many as an icon of female creativity. In 1983, Hayden Herrera’s book on the artist, A Biography of Frida Kahlo, also helped to stir up interest this great artist.(http://www.biography.com/people/frida-kahlo-9359496)

            Henry Ford Hospital

The Two Fridas

Thinking about Death

                         “I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.”

                                                                                                  —Frida Kahlo

                                                        Work Cited

"Frida Kahlo." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.

Girls, Guerilla. "The 20th Century Women of the "Isms"" The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York: Penguin, 1998. 58-89. Print.

Schwiegershausen, Erica. "Rare Photos of Frida Kahlo From the Last Years of Her Life." The Cut. N.p., 29 Mar. 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.