Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo 

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican Artists who painted many portraits, Self-Portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico.

Frida's full name is Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon. She was born on July 6th, 1907 in Coyoacan, a village on the outskirts of Mexico City. Frida's father Guillermo Kahlo a photographer and her mother Matilde Calderon y Gonzalez. Her father originally being from Germany who immigrated to Mexico in 1891, after epilepsy caused by an accident ended his university studies. Matilde was born in Oaxaca to an indigenous father and mother of Spanish decent. Frida described her childhood as "very very sad". Both parents were often sick, and their marriage was devoid. Her mother's relationship with her daughters were described as "calculating, cruel, and fanatically religious". Guillermo's photography business suffered greatly during the Mexican revolution. When Frida was six she had polio. Due to Polio she began school later than her peers.

On September 17, 1925 Frida and her boyfriend were on their way home from school when the wooden bus they were riding collided with a streetcar Several people were killed, and Frida suffered near fatal injuries. A iron handrail impaled her through her pelvis, fracturing the bone. She also fractured several ribs, her legs, and her collarbone. She spent a month in the hospital and two months recovering at home, before being able to return to work. As she continued to experience fatigue and back pain, her doctors ordered X-rays, which revealed that the accident had also displaced three vertebrae resulting in her wearing a plastic corset and not being able to walk for three months. The accident ended Frida's dreams of becoming a doctor and caused her pain and illness for the rest of her life. During her recovery, she stated to consider a career as a medical illustrator, which would combine her interest in science and art. This is where she began to paint. She had specially made easel's and painted in bed, and a mirror was placed above it so she could see herself. Painting became a way for Frida to explore questions of identity and existence, and she later stated that the accident and the isolating recovery period made her desire, "to paint things just as I saw them with my own eyes and nothing more". 

Most of the paintings Frida made during the time were portraits of herself, her sister, and school friends. Her early paintings and correspondence show that she drew inspiration especially from European artist, in particular Renaissance masters such as Sandro Botticelli and Bronzino. 

In 1931 Frida spent six months in San Francisco which was a productive period for Frida, This further developed the folk art style she had adopted in Cuernavaca. In addition to painting portraits of several new acquaintances, she made  Frida and Diego Rivera a double portrait based on their wedding photograph. She still publicly presented herself as simply Rivera's spouse rather than an artist, she participated for the first time in an exhibition, When Frieda and Diego Rivera was included in the Sixth Annual Exhibition of the San Francisco Society of Women Artists. 

The newly weds returned to Mexico in the summer of '31, and in the fall, traveled to New York City for the opening of Diego's retrospective at the Museum Of Modern Art. In April of 1932 they headed to Detroit where he had been commissioned by the Ford Motor Company to paint murals for the Institute of Arts. The year they spent in Detroit she hated it because she dislike the aspects of The American Society. She found the colonist "boring". She disliked having to socialize with capitalist such as Henry and Edsel Ford, and was angered that many of the hotels in Detroit refused to accept Jewish guests. The time spent in Detroit she became pregnant. She was very against having a child and had already undergo an abortion earlier in her marriage. Following her failed abortion, she reluctantly agreed to continue with her pregnancy but miscarried that July. Which caused a serious hemorrhage that required her to be hospitalized for two weeks. Less than three months later her mother passed away from complications of surgery in Mexico. Despite everything that happened to her in Detroit the city became beneficial for her artistic expression. 

In 1950, Frida spent most of the year in a hospital in Mexico City, where she underwent a new bone craft surgery on her spine. It caused a difficult infection and caused several follow-up surgeries. Because of these surgeries she was forced to use a wheelchair. During those final years of her life she dedicated her time to political causes to the extent that her health allowed. She had rejoined the Mexican Communist party in 1948, and campaigned for peace by collecting signatures for the Stockholm Appeal. She painted most still-life, portraying fruits and flowers with political symbols, such as flags and doves. 

On the night of July 12th,1954, Frida had a high fever and was in extreme pain. At approximately 6 a.m. on July 13th,1954 she was found dead in her bed by a nurse. she was 47 years old. 

On the evening of July 13th, Frida's body was taken to Palacio de Bellas Artes, Where it laid in a state under a communist flag. The following day it was carried to the Panteon Civil de Dolores, where friends and family attended an informal funeral. Hundreds of fans stood outside. As her wish she was cremated. 

Three years later (1957) on Frida's death anniversary Diego died of natural causes. People said he died of a broken heart.