Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954) was a Mexican painter of the indigenous culture of her country in a style combining realism and symbolism, an active Communist supporter, and wife of the Mexican muralist and cubist painter Diego Rivera.

Kahlo was noted for her unconventional appearance, including pronounced eyebrows (unibrow) and a thin moustache which she did not remove, and her choice of flamboyantly styled clothing.

Early life

Kahlo was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y CalderГіn in her parents' house in CoyoacГЎn, which at the time was a small town on the outskirts of Mexico City. Her father, Guillermo Kahlo, was a painter and photographer of German-Jewish background, whose family originated from Oradea, Romania. The young Frida suffered a bout of polio at age six, which left her right leg looking much thinner than the other. Still, with the feisty and brash personality that she kept throughout her life, she overcame her disability.

In 1925, a trolley car collided with a bus Kahlo was riding; an iron handrail impaled her, broke her spine, and exited through her vagina. She survived her injuries and eventually regained her ability to walk, but she would have relapses of extreme pain which would plague her for life.

Career as painter

After the accident, Kahlo turned her attention from a medical career to painting. Drawing on her personal experiences, her works are often shocking in their stark portrayal of pain. Fifty-five of her 143 paintings are self-portraits, often incorporating symbolic portrayal of her physical and psychological wounds. She was deeply influenced by indigenous Mexican culture, which surfaced in her paintings' bright colors, dramatic symbolism, and unapologetic rendering of often harsh and gorey content.

Although Kahlo's work is sometimes classified as surrealist and she did exhibit several times with European surrealists, she never considered herself a surrealist. Her preoccupation with female themes and the figurative candor with which she expressed them made her something of a feminist cult figure in the last decades of the 20th century.

Her paintings attracted the attention of fellow artist Diego Rivera, whom she later married. They were often referred to as "The Elephant and the Dove" due to their difference in size. When they first married, he was 42, 6 ft 1 in. (1.86 m) tall, and 300 pounds (136 kg); she was 22, 5'3", and 98 pounds. Their marriage was a stormy one, and both had numerous extramarital affairs. Frida was known to take both female and male lovers. The couple divorced, but remarried in 1940.

Late years

An active Communist supporter, Kahlo and Rivera supported Leon Trotsky and he was granted political asylum in Mexico to protect him from Joseph Stalin and his government in Russia. Initially, Trotsky lived with Rivera and then at Frida's home where he and Frida allegedly had an affair. Trotsky and his wife then moved to Cuernavaca, and Trotsky was later assassinated. Sometime after Trotsky's death, Frida denounced her former friend and praised the Soviet Union under Stalin. She spoke favorably of Mao, calling China "the new socialist hope".

Kahlo died on July 13, 1954, supposedly of a pulmonary embolism. She had been ill throughout the previous year and had had a leg amputated owing to gangrene. However, an autopsy was never performed, and many are convinced that she committed suicide. A few days before her death she had written into her diary: "I hope the leaving is joyful; and I hope never to return".

The pre-Columbian urn holding her ashes is on display in her former home La Casa Azul in CoyoacГЎn that has been turned into a museum for a number of her works of art.

Films

A biographical documentary containing archival footage, entitled Frida Kahlo, was released in 1982 in Germany.

In 1984 director Paul Le Duc released the film Frida, naturaleza viva, which stars Ofelia Medina as Frida Kahlo.

In 2002, Miramax released a motion picture titled Frida, starring Salma Hayek in the title role.

External links

• The Life and Art of Frida Kahlo
• Smithsonian Biography November 2002
• Gallery of Frida Kahlo's work
• A visit to La Casa Azul
• Frida Kahlo – Biography in German
• Tate Modern exhibition, 2005
• Frida's House a yahoo group
• Frida Kahlo and her contemporary thoughts
• Welcome to the world of Frida
• Frida Kahlo 1907-1954
• Frida Kahlo Paintings, Biography, and Historical Information
• Frida by Kahlo
• Art Cyclopedia
• Frida (2002 film) at the Internet Movie Database

References

• Fuentes, C. (1998). Diary of Frida Kahlo. Harry N. Abrams (March 1, 1998). ISBN 0810981955.
• Gonzalez, M. (2005). Frida Kahlo – A Life. Socialist Review, June 2005. Retrieved from http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=9436
• Guardian Unlimited: Arts Galleries: Frida Khalo. Exhibition at Tate Modern, June 9 – October 9 2005. The Guardian,Wednesday May 18, 2005. Retrieved May 18, 2005 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/gallery/0,8542,1424416,00.html
• Herrera, H. (2002). Frida : A Biography of Frida Kahlo. Perennial (October 1, 2002). ISBN 0060085894.
• Turner, C. (2005) Photographing Frida Kahlo. The Guardian, Wednesday May 18, 2005. Retrieved May 18, 2005 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1486443,00.html
• Zamora, M. (1995). The Letters of Frida Kahlo: Cartas Apasionadas. Chronicle Books (November 1, 1995). ISBN 0811811247.ca:Frida Kahlo

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