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Frida Kahlo

Painter Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist who was married to Diego Rivera and is still admired as a feminist icon.

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(1907-1954)

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FULL NAME: Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón BORN: JULY 6, 1907 BIRTHPLACE: Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Artist Frida Kahlo was considered one of Mexico's greatest artists who began painting mostly self-portraits after she was severely injured in a bus accident. Kahlo later became politically active and married fellow communist artist Diego Rivera in 1929. She exhibited her paintings in Paris and Mexico before her death in 1954.

Kahlo was born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón on July 6, 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico.

Kahlo's father, Wilhelm (also called Guillermo), was a German photographer who had immigrated to Mexico where he met and married her mother Matilde. She had two older sisters, Matilde and Adriana, and her younger sister, Cristina, was born the year after Kahlo.

Around the age of six, Kahlo contracted polio, which caused her to be bedridden for nine months. While she recovered from the illness, she limped when she walked because the disease had damaged her right leg and foot. Her father encouraged her to play soccer, go swimming, and even wrestle — highly unusual moves for a girl at the time — to help aid in her recovery.

In 1922, Kahlo enrolled at the renowned National Preparatory School. She was one of the few female students to attend the school, and she became known for her jovial spirit and her love of colorful, traditional clothes and jewelry.

While at school, Kahlo hung out with a group of politically and intellectually like-minded students. Becoming more politically active, Kahlo joined the Young Communist League and the Mexican Communist Party.

On September 17, 1925, Kahlo and Alejandro Gómez Arias, a school friend with whom she was romantically involved, were traveling together on a bus when the vehicle collided with a streetcar . As a result of the collision, Kahlo was impaled by a steel handrail, which went into her hip and came out the other side. She suffered several serious injuries as a result, including fractures in her spine and pelvis.

After staying at the Red Cross Hospital in Mexico City for several weeks, Kahlo returned home to recuperate further. She began painting during her recovery and finished her first self-portrait the following year, which she gave to Gómez Arias.

In 1929, Kahlo and famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera married. Kahlo and Rivera first met in 1922 when he went to work on a project at her high school. Kahlo often watched as Rivera created a mural called The Creation in the school’s lecture hall. According to some reports, she told a friend that she would someday have Rivera’s baby.

Kahlo reconnected with Rivera in 1928. He encouraged her artwork, and the two began a relationship. During their early years together, Kahlo often followed Rivera based on where the commissions that Rivera received were. In 1930, they lived in San Francisco, California. They then went to New York City for Rivera’s show at the Museum of Modern Art and later moved to Detroit for Rivera’s commission with the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Kahlo and Rivera’s time in New York City in 1933 was surrounded by controversy. Commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller , Rivera created a mural entitled Man at the Crossroads in the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center. Rockefeller halted the work on the project after Rivera included a portrait of communist leader Vladimir Lenin in the mural, which was later painted over. Months after this incident, the couple returned to Mexico and went to live in San Angel, Mexico.

Never a traditional union, Kahlo and Rivera kept separate, but adjoining homes and studios in San Angel. She was saddened by his many infidelities, including an affair with her sister Cristina. In response to this familial betrayal, Kahlo cut off most of her trademark long dark hair. Desperately wanting to have a child, she again experienced heartbreak when she miscarried in 1934.

Kahlo and Rivera went through periods of separation, but they joined together to help exiled Soviet communist Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia in 1937. The Trotskys came to stay with them at the Blue House (Kahlo's childhood home) for a time in 1937 as Trotsky had received asylum in Mexico. Once a rival of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin , Trotsky feared that he would be assassinated by his old nemesis. Kahlo and Trotsky reportedly had a brief affair during this time.

Kahlo divorced Rivera in 1939. They did not stay divorced for long, remarrying in 1940. The couple continued to lead largely separate lives, both becoming involved with other people over the years .

While she never considered herself a surrealist, Kahlo befriended one of the primary figures in that artistic and literary movement, Andre Breton, in 1938. That same year, she had a major exhibition at a New York City gallery, selling about half of the 25 paintings shown there. Kahlo also received two commissions, including one from famed magazine editor Clare Boothe Luce, as a result of the show.

In 1939, Kahlo went to live in Paris for a time. There she exhibited some of her paintings and developed friendships with such artists as Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso .

Kahlo received a commission from the Mexican government for five portraits of important Mexican women in 1941, but she was unable to finish the project. She lost her beloved father that year and continued to suffer from chronic health problems. Despite her personal challenges, her work continued to grow in popularity and was included in numerous group shows around this time.

In 1953, Kahlo received her first solo exhibition in Mexico. While bedridden at the time, Kahlo did not miss out on the exhibition’s opening. Arriving by ambulance, Kahlo spent the evening talking and celebrating with the event’s attendees from the comfort of a four-poster bed set up in the gallery just for her.

After Kahlo’s death, 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.

Many of Kahlo’s works were self-portraits. A few of her most notable paintings include:

'Frieda and Diego Rivera' (1931)

Kahlo showed this painting at the Sixth Annual Exhibition of the San Francisco Society of Women Artists, the city where she was living with Rivera at the time. In the work, painted two years after the couple married, Kahlo lightly holds Rivera’s hand as he grasps a palette and paintbrushes with the other — a stiffly formal pose hinting at the couple’s future tumultuous relationship. The work now lives at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

'Henry Ford Hospital' (1932)

In 1932, Kahlo incorporated graphic and surrealistic elements in her work. In this painting, a naked Kahlo appears on a hospital bed with several items — a fetus, a snail, a flower, a pelvis and others — floating around her and connected to her by red, veinlike strings. As with her earlier self-portraits, the work was deeply personal, telling the story of her second miscarriage.

'The Suicide of Dorothy Hale' (1939)

Kahlo was asked to paint a portrait of Luce and Kahlo's mutual friend, actress Dorothy Hale, who had committed suicide earlier that year by jumping from a high-rise building. The painting was intended as a gift for Hale's grieving mother. Rather than a traditional portrait, however, Kahlo painted the story of Hale's tragic leap. While the work has been heralded by critics, its patron was horrified at the finished painting.

'The Two Fridas' (1939)

One of Kahlo’s most famous works, the painting shows two versions of the artist sitting side by side, with both of their hearts exposed. One Frida is dressed nearly all in white and has a damaged heart and spots of blood on her clothing. The other wears bold colored clothing and has an intact heart. These figures are believed to represent “unloved” and “loved” versions of Kahlo.

'The Broken Column' (1944)

Kahlo shared her physical challenges through her art again with this painting, which depicted a nearly nude Kahlo split down the middle, revealing her spine as a shattered decorative column. She also wears a surgical brace and her skin is studded with tacks or nails. Around this time, Kahlo had several surgeries and wore special corsets to try to fix her back. She would continue to seek a variety of treatments for her chronic physical pain with little success.

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About a week after her 47th birthday, Kahlo died on July 13, 1954, at her beloved Blue House. There has been some speculation regarding the nature of her death. It was reported to be caused by a pulmonary embolism, but there have also been stories about a possible suicide.

Kahlo’s health issues became nearly all-consuming in 1950. After being diagnosed with gangrene in her right foot, Kahlo spent nine months in the hospital and had several operations during this time. She continued to paint and support political causes despite having limited mobility. In 1953, part of Kahlo’s right leg was amputated to stop the spread of gangrene.

Deeply depressed, Kahlo was hospitalized again in April 1954 because of poor health, or, as some reports indicated, a suicide attempt. She returned to the hospital two months later with bronchial pneumonia. No matter her physical condition, Kahlo did not let that stand in the way of her political activism. Her final public appearance was a demonstration against the U.S.-backed overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala on July 2nd.

Kahlo’s life was the subject of a 2002 film entitled Frida , starring Salma Hayek as the artist and Alfred Molina as Rivera. Directed by Julie Taymor, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards and won for Best Makeup and Original Score.

The family home where Kahlo was born and grew up, later referred to as the Blue House or Casa Azul, was opened as a museum in 1958. Located in Coyoacán, Mexico City, the Museo Frida Kahlo houses artifacts from the artist along with important works including Viva la Vida (1954), Frida and Caesarean (1931) and Portrait of my father Wilhelm Kahlo (1952).

Hayden Herrera’s 1983 book on Kahlo, Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo , helped to stir up interest in the artist. The biographical work covers Kahlo’s childhood, accident, artistic career, marriage to Diego Rivera, association with the communist party and love affairs.

Watch the 2024 documentary, titled Frida , about the artist's life on Amazon Prime Video.

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• I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.
• My painting carries with it the message of pain.
• I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.
• I think that, little by little, I'll be able to solve my problems and survive.
• The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.
• I was born a bitch. I was born a painter.
• I love you more than my own skin.
• I am not sick, I am broken, but I am happy as long as I can paint.
• Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?
• I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed with this decent and good feeling.
• There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.
• I hope the end is joyful, and I hope never to return.

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Articles and Features

Female Iconoclasts: Frida Kahlo

By Shira Wolfe

“I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.”  Frida Kahlo

Who is Frida Kahlo?

Our “Female Iconoclasts” series highlights some of the most boundary-breaking works of our time, crafted by women who defied conventions in contemporary art and society in order to pursue their passion and contribute their unique vision to the world. This week, we focus on Frida Kahlo, one of the greatest artistic icons ever to have lived, whose life has become just as iconic as her body of work. Her art was deeply personal and political, reflecting her own turbulent personal life, her physical ailments, her relationship with the great muralist Diego Rivera , and the Mexico she so loved and fought for. Since the 1970s she has grown into a feminist icon and the past decade has seen her persona and art become co-opted by pop culture.

During her lifetime she was called a ‘surrealist’ by André Breton, and a ‘realist’ by her husband Diego Rivera. Kahlo, however, eschewed labels; in fact, one of the most famous quotes by the artist reads: “I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.” 

Biography of Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was born as Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderón on 6 July 1907 in the Casa Azul, her family home in the Mexico City municipality Coyoacán.

The Family of Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo’s father, Wilhelm (Guillermo) Kahlo, was a photographer of German-Jewish descent who had immigrated to Mexico. Her mother was the Mexican Matilde Calderón. Frida had three sisters, Matilde, Adriana, and Cristina.

The Early Life of Frida Kahlo

Frida’s early life was marked by severe health issues. At the age of 6, she contracted polio, causing her right leg to remain slightly shorter than the left one. At 18, she suffered a tragic accident that would haunt her for the rest of her life: a streetcar crashed into the bus she was travelling in, and she was terribly injured: she was impaled by the metal bannister, fractured many bones, suffered severe damage to her spinal cord, and dislocated her shoulder and foot. During the hard recuperation period, she lay practically immobilized in her bed and took up painting. Her mother had an easel built that allowed her to paint while lying in bed and mounted a mirror above her bed so she could paint herself. 

For Frida, painting became a mode of survival and self-expression, which helped her to cope with her tortuous chronic pain, prolonged periods of bed rest and physical fragility that frustrated the enigmatic woman with such a lust for life. Throughout her life, Frida underwent several intense operations in order to attempt to improve the quality of her life following the accident. These operations were followed by long convalescences and had serious consequences, including having to wear corsets to correct her posture and suffering three miscarriages.

The Relationship with Diego Rivera

The other event that shook Frida’s life to the core was her meeting and forming a relationship with renowned artist Diego Rivera. Diego was a huge supporter of her art and started frequenting the Casa Azul. The couple married in 1929, when Rivera was 43 years old, and Frida just 22. Their marriage was described by Frida’s mother as “the wedding between an elephant and a dove.” The love between Frida and Diego was strong and passionate, yet their relationship was also volatile and tumultuous, with many affairs on both sides shaking things up. On an artistic level, they supported each other unconditionally and each considered the other to be the greatest living Mexican painter. They also shared a passion for politics and the revolutionary ideals of the time. Both were affiliated with the Communist Party of Mexico, and they even took in the Russian dissident Leon Trotsky for two years, between 1937 and 1939, who was being persecuted by Stalin. The couple resided in different intervals at the Casa Azul, at Diego’s studio in San Ángel, in Cuernavaca, and in various cities in the United States. Frida and Diego spent three years in the United States from 1930 to 1933, living in New York, Detroit and San Francisco.

Following deep emotional crises as a result of Diego’s many infidelities, Frida divorced him in 1939, only to remarry him one year later with a mutual agreement that they would lead autonomous sex lives.

How Frida Kahlo Died

Toward the end of her life, Frida’s health deteriorated and she was confined to the Hospital Inglés from 1950 to 1951. Her right leg was amputated in 1953, due to a threat of gangrene, and Frida died at the Casa Azul on 13 July 1954. The National Institute of Fine Arts was just in the process of preparing a retrospective exhibition as a national tribute to her. Following her wishes, the Casa Azul was turned into a museum several years after her death, and it remains one of the most important spaces in Mexico, filled with her being and her objects.     

“ I paint self-portraits because I am the person I know best. I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to and I paint whatever passes through my head without any consideration .” Frida Kahlo

Themes, styles and approach

Frida Kahlo found a way to express herself and survive the difficult episodes in her life through art. She was determined to paint her own reality, and two-thirds of her paintings are self-portraits, revealing her keen interest in exploring her own being and identity in depth. She once said: “I paint self-portraits because I am the person I know best. I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to and I paint whatever passes through my head without any consideration.” Her self-portraits are beautiful and honest, showing images of herself with her signature moustache and unibrow, and in moments of suffering and pain, as such boldly defying conventional beauty norms.

At the same time, Frida was interested in reclaiming the roots of Mexican folk art and culture through her daily life and her art. She dressed in indigenous Mexican attire and avidly collected Mexican folk art. All these influences were reflected in her painting. Although the Surrealists tried to claim her as one of their own and Frida was interested in their work, she preferred to avoid any labels when it came to her art. For her, the surrealist images in her paintings were actually her reality. She never painted her dreams, but painted what was happening to her and passing through her mind at that very moment.  

The Most Famous Art by Frida Kahlo

The two fridas.

Frida painted The Two Fridas in 1939, the year she divorced Diego Rivera. The painting shows two Frida Kahlos sitting side by side. Both their hearts are revealed, and they are distinguished from one another through their clothing. The one on the left wears a traditional Tehuana costume and her heart is torn open; the one on the right wears a more modern outfit. The main artery leading from the torn open heart of the traditional Frida connects to the modern Frida’s heart, wraps around her arm, and is cut off with a pair of scissors by the traditional Frida. The modern Frida holds a pendant with a portrait of a young Diego Rivera. This powerful painting shows two sides of Frida Kahlo, suffering from heartache while also remembering the good aspects of her love for Diego.

Diego on My Mind (Self-Portrait as a Tehuana)

Frida started painting Diego on My Mind (Self-Portrait as a Tehuana) in 1940 when the couple were still divorced, and finished it in 1943, at which point they had reconciled. The painting shows Frida wearing a traditional Tehuana costume, with the face of Diego as a third eye in her forehead. The painting shows how she cannot stop thinking about him, despite his betrayals and their separation. 

The Broken Column

The Broken Column is a painting from 1944. It depicts Frida after spinal surgery, bound and constrained by a cage-like body brace. She is missing flesh, and a broken column is exposed where her spine should be. Metal nails pierce Frida’s face, breasts, arms, torso and upper thigh, and tears are streaming down her face. This is one of her most brutally revealing self-portraits where she deals with her physical suffering. 

The Wounded Deer

The Wounded Deer is a 1946 painting, which Frida painted following another spinal operation in New York that same year. We see Frida as a young deer in the forest, fatally wounded by several arrows. She had hoped that the New York surgery would free her from her severe physical pain, but it failed, and this painting expresses her disappointment following the procedure. 

Where to Find Frida Kahlo’s Work

During her lifetime, Frida held several exhibitions internationally: at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York, at the Renou et Colle Gallery in Paris, and at the Lola Álvarez Bravo Gallery in Mexico. She also participated in the Group Surrealist Show at the Mexican Art Gallery. In 1939, The Louvre acquired her painting The Frame (1938). Today, Frida Kahlo’s paintings can be found in numerous private collections in Mexico, the United States, and Europe. A current exhibition at the Cobra Museum in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, brought together an impressive selection of works by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and several other Mexican contemporaries of theirs. But by far the most moving experience is to experience the full essence of Frida Kahlo in her Casa Azul in Mexico City, which is still left almost exactly in the same condition as when Frida herself lived there. Several of her and Diego Rivera’s paintings are on display there, as well as the Mexican folk art that they collected, and the many objects that were important to Frida.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frida Kahlo was born in Casa Azul, her family home in the Mexico City Coyoacán.

Frida Kahlo died at an age of 47.

Relevant  sources to learn more

The excellent exhibition “Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: A Love Revolution” is on show at the Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen, the Netherlands through 26 September 2021

Discover the art of María Izquierdo, a contemporary of Kahlo and Rivera who was far less known but also made an important contribution to Mexican art

Read more about Art Movements and Styles Throughout History here

You may also like: The Fantastic Women of Surrealism

Frida Kahlo

Mexican Painter

Summary of Frida Kahlo

Small pins pierce Kahlo's skin to reveal that she still 'hurts' following illness and accident, whilst a signature tear signifies her ongoing battle with the related psychological overflow. Frida Kahlo typically uses the visual symbolism of physical pain in a long-standing attempt to better understand emotional suffering. Prior to Kahlo's efforts, the language of loss, death, and selfhood, had been relatively well investigated by some male artists (including Albrecht Dürer , Francisco Goya , and Edvard Munch ), but had not yet been significantly dissected by a woman. Indeed not only did Kahlo enter into an existing language, but she also expanded it and made it her own. By literally exposing interior organs, and depicting her own body in a bleeding and broken state, Kahlo opened up our insides to help explain human behaviors on the outside. She gathered together motifs that would repeat throughout her career, including ribbons, hair, and personal animals, and in turn created a new and articulate means to discuss the most complex aspects of female identity. As not only a 'great artist' but also a figure worthy of our devotion, Kahlo's iconic face provides everlasting trauma support and she has influence that cannot be underestimated.

Accomplishments

• Kahlo made it legitimate for women to outwardly display their pains and frustrations and to thus make steps towards understanding them. It became crucial for women artists to have a female role model and this is the gift of Frida Kahlo.
• As an important question for many Surrealists , Kahlo too considers: What is Woman? Following repeated miscarriages, she asks: to what extent does motherhood or its absence impact on female identity? She irreversibly alters the meaning of maternal subjectivity. It becomes clear through umbilical symbolism (often shown by ribbons) that Kahlo is connected to all that surrounds her, and that she is a 'mother' without children.
• Finding herself often alone, she worked obsessively with self-portraiture. Her reflection fueled an unflinching interest in identity. She was particularly interested in her mixed German-Mexican ancestry, as well as in her divided roles as artist, lover, and wife.
• Kahlo uses religious symbolism throughout her oeuvre . She appears as the Madonna holding her 'animal babies', and becomes the Virgin Mary as she cradles her husband and famous national painter Diego Rivera . She identifies with Saint Sebastian, and even fittingly appears as the martyred Christ. She positions herself as a prophet when she takes to the head of the table in her Last Supper -style painting, and her depiction of the accident which left her impaled on a metal bar (and covered in gold dust when lying injured) recalls the crucifixion and suggests her own holiness.
• Women prior to Kahlo who had attempted to communicate the wildest and deepest of emotions were often labeled hysterical or condemned insane - while men were aligned with the 'melancholy' character type. By remaining artistically active under the weight of sadness, Kahlo revealed that women too can be melancholy rather than depressed, and that these terms should not be thought of as gendered.

The Life of Frida Kahlo

"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone... because I am the subject I know best." From battles with her mind and her body, Kahlo lived through her art.

Important Art by Frida Kahlo

Frieda and Diego Rivera

It is as if in this painting Kahlo tries on the role of wife to see how it fits. She does not focus on her identity as a painter, but instead adopts a passive and supportive role, holding the hand of her talented and acclaimed husband. It was indeed the case that during the majority of her painting career, Kahlo was viewed only in Rivera's shadow and it was not until later in life that she gained international recognition. This early double-portrait was painted primarily to mark the celebration of Kahlo's marriage to Rivera. Whilst Rivera holds a palette and paint brushes, symbolic of his artistic mastery, Kahlo limits her role to his wife by presenting herself slight in frame and without her artistic accoutrements. Kahlo furthermore dresses in costume typical of the Mexican woman, or "La Mexicana," wearing a traditional red shawl known as the rebozo and jade Aztec beads. The positioning of the figures echoes that of traditional marital portraiture where the wife is placed on her husband's left to indicate her lesser moral status as a woman. In a drawing made the following year called Frida and the Miscarriage , the artist does hold her own palette, as though the experience of losing a fetus and not being able to create a baby shifts her determination wholly to the creation of art.

Oil on canvas - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Henry Ford Hospital

Many of Kahlo's paintings from the early 1930s, especially in size, format, architectural setting and spatial arrangement, relate to religious ex-voto paintings of which she and Rivera possessed a large collection ranging in date over several centuries. Ex-votos are made as a gesture of gratitude for salvation, a granted prayer or disaster averted and left in churches or at shrines. Ex-votos are generally painted on small-scale metal panels and depict the incident along with the Virgin or saint to whom they are offered. Henry Ford Hospital , is a good example where the artist uses the ex-voto format but subverts it by placing herself centre stage, rather than recording the miraculous deeds of saints. Kahlo instead paints her own story, as though she becomes saintly and the work is made not as thanks to the lord but in defiance, questioning why he brings her pain. In this painting, Kahlo lies on a bed, bleeding after a miscarriage. From the exposed naked body six vein-like ribbons flow outwards, attached to symbols. One of these six objects is a fetus, suggesting that the ribbons could be a metaphor for umbilical cords. The other five objects that surround Frida are things that she remembers, or things that she had seen in the hospital. For example, the snail makes reference to the time it took for the miscarriage to be over, whilst the flower was an actual physical object given to her by Diego. The artist demonstrates her need to be attached to all that surrounds her: to the mundane and metaphorical as much as the physical and actual. Perhaps it is through this reaching out of connectivity that the artist tries to be 'maternal', even though she is not able to have her own child.

Oil on canvas - Dolores Olmedo Collection, Mexico City, Mexico

This is a haunting painting in which both the birth giver and the birthed child seem dead. The head of the woman giving birth is shrouded in white cloth while the baby emerging from the womb appears lifeless. At the time that Kahlo painted this work, her mother had just died so it seems reasonable to assume that the shrouded funerary figure is her mother while the baby is Kahlo herself (the title supports this reading). However, Kahlo had also just lost her own child and has said that she is the covered mother figure. The Virgin of Sorrows , who hangs above the bed suggests that this is an image that overflows with maternal pain and suffering. Also though, and revealingly, Kahlo wrote in her diary, next to several small drawings of herself, 'the one who gave birth to herself ... who wrote the most wonderful poem of her life.' Similar to the drawing, Frida and the Miscarriage , My Birth represents Kahlo mourning for the loss of a child, but also finding the strength to make powerful art because of such trauma. The painting is made in a retablo (or votive) style (a small traditional Mexican painting derived from Catholic Church art) in which thanks would typically be given to the Madonna beneath the image. Kahlo instead leaves this section blank, as though she finds herself unable to give thanks either for her own birth, or for the fact that she is now unable to give birth. The painting seems to bring the message that it is important to acknowledge that birth and death live very closely together. Many believe that My Birth was heavily inspired by an Aztec sculpture that Kahlo had at home representing Tiazolteotl, the Goddess of fertility and midwives.

Oil and tempera on zinc - Private Collection

My Grandparents, My Parents, and I (Family Tree)

This dream-like family tree was painted on zinc rather than canvas, a choice that further highlights the artist's fascination with and collection of 18 th -century and 19 th -century Mexican retablos. Kahlo completed this work to accentuate both her European Jewish heritage and her Mexican background. Her paternal side, German Jewish, occupies the right side of the composition symbolized by the sea (acknowledging her father's voyage to get to Mexico), while her maternal side of Mexican descent is represented on the left by a map faintly outlining the topography of Mexico. While Kahlo's paintings are assertively autobiographical, she often used them to communicate transgressive or political messages: this painting was completed shortly after Adolf Hitler passed the Nuremberg laws banning interracial marriage. Here, Kahlo simultaneously affirms her mixed heritage to confront Nazi ideology, using a format - the genealogical chart - employed by the Nazi party to determine racial purity. Beyond politics, the red ribbon used to link the family members echoes the umbilical cord that connects baby Kahlo to her mother - a motif that recurs throughout Kahlo's oeuvre .

Oil and tempera on zinc - The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Fulang-Chang and I

This painting debuted at Kahlo's exhibition in Julien Levy's New York gallery in 1938, and was one of the works that most fascinated André Breton, the founder of Surrealism. The canvas in the New York show is a self-portrait of the artist and her spider monkey, Fulang-Chang, a symbol employed as a surrogate for the children that she and Rivera could not have. The arrangement of figures in the portrait signals the artist's interest in Renaissance paintings of the Madonna and child. After the New York exhibition, a second frame containing a mirror was added. The later inclusion of the mirror is a gesture inviting the viewer into the work: it was through looking at herself intensely in a mirror in her months spent at home after her bus accident that Kahlo first began painting portraits and delving deeper into her psyche. The inclusion of the mirror, considered from this perspective, is a remarkably intimate vision into both the artist's aesthetic process and into her personal introspection. In many of Kahlo's self-portraits, she is accompanied by monkeys, dogs, and parrots, all of which she kept as pets. Since the Middle Ages, small spider monkeys, like those kept by Kahlo, have been said to symbolize the devil, heresy, and paganism, finally coming to represent the fall of man, vice, and the embodiment of lust. These monkeys were depicted in the past as a cautionary symbol against the dangers of excessive love and the base instincts of man. Kahlo again depicts herself with her monkey in both 1939 and 1940. In a later version in 1945, Kahlo paints her monkey and also her dog, Xolotl. This little dog that often accompanies the artist, is named after a mythological Aztec god, known to represent lightning and death, and also to be the twin of Quetzalcoatl, both of who had visited the underworld. All of these pictures, including Fulang-Chang and I include 'umbilical' ribbons that wrap between Kahlo's and the animal's necks. Kahlo is the Madonna and her pets become the holy (yet darkly symbolic) infant for which she longs.

In two parts, oil on composition board (1937) with painted mirror frame (added after 1939) - The Museum of Modern Art, New York

What the Water Gave Me

In this painting most of Kahlo's body is obscured from view. We are unusually confronted with the foot and plug end of the bath, and with focus placed on the artist's feet. Furthermore, Kahlo adopts a birds-eye view and looks down on the water from above. Within the water, Kahlo paints an alternative self-portrait, one in which the more traditional facial portrait has been replaced by an array of symbols and recurring motifs. The artist includes portraits of her parents, a traditional Tehuana dress, a perforated shell, a dead humming bird, two female lovers, a skeleton, a crumbling skyscraper, a ship set sail, and a woman drowning. This painting was featured in Breton's 1938 book on Surrealism and Painting and Hayden Herrera, in her biography of Kahlo, mentions that the artist herself considered this work to have a special importance. Recalling the tapestry style painting of Northern Renaissance masters, Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the figures and objects floating in the water of Kahlo's painting create an at once fantastic and real landscape of memory. Kahlo discussed What the Water Gave Me with the Manhattan gallery owner Julien Levy, and suggested that it was a sad piece that mourned the loss of her childhood. Perhaps the strangled figure at the centre is representative of the inner emotional torments experienced by Kahlo herself. It is clear from the conversation that the artist had with Levy, that Kahlo was aware of the philosophical implications of her work. In an interview with Herrera, Levy recalls, in 'a long philosophical discourse, Kahlo talked about the perspective of herself that is shown in this painting'. He further relays that 'her idea was about the image of yourself that you have because you do not see your head. The head is something that is looking, but is not seen. It is what one carries around to look at life with.' The artist's head in What the Water Gave Me is thus appropriately replaced by the interior thoughts that occupy her mind. As well as an inclusion of death by strangulation in the centre of the water, there is also a labia-like flower and a cluster of pubic hair painted between Kahlo's legs. The work is quite sexual while also showing preoccupation with destruction and death. The motif of the bathtub in art is one that has been popular since Jacques-Louis David's The Death of Marat (1793), and was later taken up many different personalities such as Francesca Woodman and Tracey Emin.

Oil on canvas - Private Collection

The Two Fridas

This double self-portrait is one of Kahlo's most recognized compositions, and is symbolic of the artist's emotional pain experienced during her divorce from Rivera. On the left, the artist is shown in modern European attire, wearing the costume from her marriage to Rivera. Throughout their marriage, given Rivera's strong nationalism, Kahlo became increasingly interested in indigenism and began to explore traditional Mexican costume, which she wears in the portrait on the right. It is the Mexican Kahlo that holds a locket with an image of Rivera. The stormy sky in the background, and the artist's bleeding heart - a fundamental symbol of Catholicism and also symbolic of Aztec ritual sacrifice - accentuate Kahlo's personal tribulation and physical pain. Symbolic elements frequently possess multiple layers of meaning in Kahlo's pictures; the recurrent theme of blood represents both metaphysical and physical suffering, gesturing also to the artist's ambivalent attitude toward accepted notions of womanhood and fertility. Although both women have their hearts exposed, the woman in the white European outfit also seems to have had her heart dissected and the artery that runs from this heart is cut and bleeding. The artery that runs from the heart of her Tehuana-costumed self remains intact because it is connected to the miniature photograph of Diego as a child. Whereas Kahlo's heart in the Mexican dress remains sustained, the European Kahlo, disconnected from her beloved Diego, bleeds profusely onto her dress. As well as being one of the artist's most famous works, this is also her largest canvas.

Oil on canvas - Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City, Mexico

Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair

This self-portrait shows Kahlo as an androgynous figure. Scholars have seen this gesture as a confrontational response to Rivera's demand for a divorce, revealing the artist's injured sense of female pride and her self-punishment for the failures of her marriage. Her masculine attire also reminds the viewer of early family photographs in which Kahlo chose to wear a suit. The cropped hair also presents a nuanced expression of the artist's identity. She holds one cut braid in her left hand while many strands of hair lie scattered on the floor. The act of cutting a braid symbolizes a rejection of girlhood and innocence, but equally can be seen as the severance of a connective cord (maybe umbilical) that binds two people or two ways of life. Either way, braids were a central element in Kahlo's identity as the traditional La Mexicana , and in the act of cutting off her braids, she rejects some aspect of her former identity. The hair strewn about the floor echoes an earlier self-portrait painted as the Mexican folkloric figure La Llorona , here ridding herself of these female attributes. Kahlo clutches a pair of scissors, as the discarded strands of hair become animated around her feet; the tresses appear to have a life of their own as they curl across the floor and around the legs of her chair. Above her sorrowful scene, Kahlo inscribed the lyrics and music of a song that declares cruelly, "Look, if I loved you it was for your hair, now that you are hairless, I don't love you anymore," confirming Kahlo's own denunciation and rejection of her female roles. In likely homage to Kahlo's painting, Finnish photographer Elina Brotherus photographed Wedding Portraits in 1997. On the occasion of her marriage, Brotherus cuts her hair, the remains of which her new husband holds in his hands. The act of cutting one's hair symbolic of a moment of change happens in the work of other female artists too, including that of Francesca Woodman and Rebecca Horn.

Oil on canvas - The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird

The frontal position and outward stare of Kahlo in this self-portrait directly confronts and engages the viewer. The artist wears Christ's unraveled crown of thorns as a necklace that digs into her neck, signifying her self-representation as a Christian martyr and the enduring pain experienced following her failed marriage. A dead hummingbird, a symbol in Mexican folkloric tradition of luck charms for falling in love, hangs in the center of her necklace. A black cat - symbolic of bad luck and death - crouches behind her left shoulder, and a spider monkey gifted from Rivera, symbolic of evil, is included to her right. Kahlo frequently employed flora and fauna in the background of her bust-length portraits to create a tight, claustrophobic space, using the symbolic element of nature to simultaneously compare and contrast the link between female fertility with the barren and deathly imagery of the foreground. Typically a symbol of good fortune, the meaning of a 'dead' hummingbird is to be reversed. Kahlo, who craves flight, is perturbed and disturbed by the fact that the butterflies in her hair are too delicate to travel far and that the dead bird around her neck, has become an anchor, preyed upon by the nearby cat. In failing to directly translate complex inner feelings it as though the painting illustrates the artist's frustrations.

Oil on canvas on masonite - Nikolas Muray Collection, Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

The Broken Column

The Broken Column is a particularly pertinent example of the combination of Kahlo's emotional and physical pain. The artist's biographer, Hayden Herrera, writes of this painting, 'A gap resembling an earthquake fissure splits her in two. The opened body suggests surgery and Frida's feeling that without the steel corset she would literally fall apart'. A broken ionic column replaces the artist's crumbling spine and sharp metal nails pierce her body. The hard coldness of this inserted column recalls the steel rod that pierced the artist's abdomen and uterus during her streetcar accident. More generally, the architectural feature now in ruins, has associations of the simultaneous power and fragility of the female body. Beyond its physical dimensions, the cloth wrapped around Kahlo's pelvis, recalls Christ's loincloth. Indeed, Kahlo again displays her wounds like a Christian martyr; through identification with Saint Sebastian, she uses physical pain, nakedness, and sexuality to bring home the message of spiritual suffering. Tears dot the artist's face as they do many depictions of the Madonna in Mexico; her eyes stare out beyond the painting as though renouncing the flesh and summoning the spirit. It is as a result of depictions like this one that Kahlo is now considered a Magic Realist. Her eyes are never-changing, realistic, while the rest of the painting is highly fantastical. The painting is not overly concerned with the workings of the subconscious or with irrational juxtapositions that feature more typically in Surrealist works. The Magic Realism movement was extremely popular in Latin America (especially with writers such as Gabriel García Márquez), and Kahlo has been retrospectively included in it by art historians. The notion of being wounded in the way that we see illustrated in The Broken Column , is referred to in Spanish as chingada . This word embodies numerous interrelated meanings and concepts, which include to be wounded, broken, torn open or deceived. The word derives from the verb for penetration and implies domination of the female by the male. It refers to the status of victimhood. The painting also likely inspired a performance and sculptural piece made by Rebecca Horn in 1970 called Unicorn . In the piece Horn walks naked through an arable field with her body strapped in a fabric corset that appears almost identical to that worn by Kahlo in The Broken Column . In the piece by the German performance artist, however, the erect, sky-reaching pillar is fixed to her head rather than inserted into her chest. The performance has an air of mythology and religiosity similar to that of Kahlo's painting, but the column is whole and strong again, perhaps paying homage to Kahlo's fortitude and artistic triumph.

Oil on masonite - Dolores Olmedo Collection, Mexico City, Mexico

The Wounded Deer

The 1946 painting, The Wounded Deer , further extends both the notion of chingada and the Saint Sebastian motif already explored in The Broken Column . As a hybrid between a deer and a woman, the innocent Kahlo is wounded and bleeding, preyed upon and hunted down in a clearing in the forest. Staring directly at the viewer, the artist confirms that she is alive, and yet the arrows will slowly kill her. The artist wears a pearl earring, as though highlighting the tension that she feels between her social existence and the desire to exist more freely alongside nature. Kahlo does not portray herself as a delicate and gentle fawn; she is instead a full-bodied stag with large antlers and drooping testicles. Not only does this suggest, like her suited appearance in early family photographs, that Kahlo is interested in combining the sexes to create an androgyne, but also shows that she attempted to align herself with the other great artists of the past, most of whom had been men. The branch beneath the stag's feet is reminiscent of the palm branches that onlookers laid under the feet of Jesus as he arrived in Jerusalem. Kahlo continued to identify with the religious figure of Saint Sebastian from this point until her death. In 1953, she completed a drawing of herself in which eleven arrows pierce her skin. Similarly, the artist Louise Bourgeois, also interested in the visualization of pain, used Saint Sebastian as a recurring symbol in her art. She first depicted the motif in 1947 as an abstracted series of forms, barely distinguishable as a human figure; drawn using watercolor and pencil on pink paper, but then later made obvious pink fabric sculptures of the saint, stuck with arrows, she like Kahlo feeling under attack and afraid.

Oil on masonite - Private Collection

Weeping Coconuts (Cocos gimientes)

This still life is exemplary of Kahlo's late work. More frequently associated with her psychological portraiture, Kahlo in fact painted still lifes throughout her career. She depicted fresh fruit and vegetable produce and objects native to Mexico, painting many small-scale still lifes, especially as she grew progressively ill. The anthropomorphism of the fruit in this composition is symbolic of Kahlo's projection of pain into all things as her health deteriorated at the end of her life. In contrast with the tradition of the cornucopia signifying plentiful and fruitful life, here the coconuts are literally weeping, alluding to the dualism of life and death. A small Mexican flag bearing the affectionate and personal inscription "Painted with all the love. Frida Kahlo" is stuck into a prickly pear, signaling Kahlo's use of the fruit as an emblem of personal expression, and communicating her deep respect for all of nature's gifts. During this period, the artist was heavily reliant on drugs and alcohol to alleviate her pain, so albeit beautiful, her still lifes became progressively less detailed between 1951 and 1953.

Oil on board - Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Biography of Frida Kahlo

Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo Calderon was born at La Casa Azul (The Blue House) in Coyoacan, a town on the outskirts of Mexico City in 1907. Her father, Wilhelm Kahlo, was German, and had moved to Mexico at a young age where he remained for the rest of his life, eventually taking over the photography business of Kahlo's mother's family. Kahlo's mother, Matilde Calderon y Gonzalez, was of mixed Spanish and indigenous ancestry, and raised Frida and her three sisters in a strict and religious household (Frida also had two half sisters from her father's first marriage who were raised in a convent). La Casa Azul was not only Kahlo's childhood home, but also the place that she returned to live and work from 1939 until her death. It later opened as the Frida Kahlo Museum.

Aside from her mother's rigidity, religious fanaticism, and tendency toward outbursts, several other events in Kahlo's childhood affected her deeply. At age six, Kahlo contracted polio; a long recovery isolated her from other children and permanently damaged one of her legs, causing her to walk with a limp after recovery. Wilhelm, with whom Kahlo was very close, and particularly so after the experience of being an invalid, enrolled his daughter at the German College in Mexico City and introduced Kahlo to the writings of European philosophers such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, and Arthur Schopenhauer. All of Kahlo's sisters instead attended a convent school so it seems that there was a thirst for expansive learning noted in Frida that resulted in her father making different decisions especially for her. Kahlo was grateful for this and despite a strained relationship with her mother, always credited her father with great tenderness and insight. Still, she was interested in both strands of her roots, and her mixed European and Mexican heritage provided life-long fascination in her approach towards both life and art.

Kahlo had a horrible experience at the German School where she was sexually abused and thus forced to leave. Luckily at the time, the Mexican Revolution and the Minister of Education had changed the education policy, and from 1922 girls were admitted to the National Preparatory School. Kahlo was one of the first 35 girls admitted and she began to study medicine, botany, and the social sciences. She excelled academically, became very interested in Mexican culture, and also became active politically.

Early Training

When Kahlo was 15, Diego Rivera (already a renowned artist) was painting the Creation mural (1922) in the amphitheater of her Preparatory School. Upon seeing him work, Kahlo experienced a moment of infatuation and fascination that she would go on to fully explore later in life. Meanwhile she enjoyed helping her father in his photography studio and received drawing instruction from her father's friend, Fernando Fernandez - for whom she was an apprentice engraver. At this time Kahlo also befriended a dissident group of students known as the "Cachuchas", who confirmed the young artist's rebellious spirit and further encouraged her interest in literature and politics. In 1923 Kahlo fell in love with a fellow member of the group, Alejandro Gomez Arias, and the two remained romantically involved until 1928. Sadly, in 1925 together with Alejandro (who survived unharmed) on their way home from school, Kahlo was involved in a near-fatal bus accident.

Kahlo suffered multiple fractures throughout her body, including a crushed pelvis, and a metal rod impaled her womb. She spent one month in the hospital immobile, and bound in a plaster corset, and following this period, many more months bedridden at home. During her long recovery she began to experiment in small-scale autobiographical portraiture, henceforth abandoning her medical pursuits due to practical circumstances and turning her focus to art.

During the months of convalescence at home Kahlo's parents made her a special easel, gave her a set of paints, and placed a mirror above her head so that she could see her own reflection and make self-portraits. Kahlo spent hours confronting existential questions raised by her trauma including a feeling of dissociation from her identity, a growing interiority, and a general closeness to death. She drew upon the acute pictorial realism known from her father's photographic portraits (which she greatly admired) and approached her own early portraits (mostly of herself, her sisters, and her school friends) with the same psychological intensity. At the time, Kahlo seriously considered becoming a medical illustrator during this period as she saw this as a way to marry her interests in science and art.

By 1927, Kahlo was well enough to leave her bedroom and thus re-kindled her relationship with the Cachuchas group, which was by this point all the more political. She joined the Mexican Communist Party (PCM) and began to familiarize herself with the artistic and political circles in Mexico City. She became close friends with the photojournalist Tina Modotti and Cuban revolutionary Julio Antonio Mella. It was in June 1928, at one of Modotti's many parties, that Kahlo was personally introduced to Diego Rivera who was already one of Mexico's most famous artists and a highly influential member of the PCM. Soon after, Kahlo boldly asked him to decide, upon looking at one of her portraits, if her work was worthy of pursuing a career as an artist. He was utterly impressed by the honesty and originality of her painting and assured her of her talents. Despite the fact that Rivera had already been married twice, and was known to have an insatiable fondness for women, the two quickly began a romantic relationship and were married in 1929. According to Kahlo's mother, who outwardly expressed her dissatisfaction with the match, the couple were 'the elephant and the dove'. Her father however, unconditionally supported his daughter and was happy to know that Rivera had the financial means to help with Kahlo's medical bills. The new couple moved to Cuernavaca in the rural state of Morelos where Kahlo devoted herself entirely to painting.

Mature Period

By the early 1930s, Kahlo's painting had evolved to include a more assertive sense of Mexican identity, a facet of her artwork that had stemmed from her exposure to the modernist indigenist movement in Mexico and from her interest in preserving the revival of Mexicanidad during the rise of fascism in Europe. Kahlo's interest in distancing herself from her German roots is evidenced in her name change from Frieda to Frida, and furthermore in her decision to wear traditional Tehuana costume (the dress from earlier matriarchal times). At the time, two failed pregnancies augmented Kahlo's simultaneously harsh and beautiful representation of the specifically female experience through symbolism and autobiography.

During the first few years of the 1930s Kahlo and Rivera lived in San Francisco, Detroit, and New York whilst Rivera was creating various murals. Kahlo also completed some seminal works including Frieda and Diego Rivera (1931) and Self-Portrait on the Borderline between Mexico and The United States (1932) with the latter expressing her observations of rivalry taking place between nature and industry in the two lands. It was during this time that Kahlo met and became friends with Imogen Cunningham , Ansel Adams , and Edward Weston . She also met Dr. Leo Eloesser while in San Francisco, the surgeon who would become her closest medical advisor until her death.

Soon after the unveiling of a large and controversial mural that Rivera had made for the Rockefeller Centre in New York (1933), the couple returned to Mexico as Kahlo was feeling particularly homesick. They moved into a new house in the wealthy neighborhood of San Angel. The house was made up of two separate parts joined by a bridge. This set up was appropriate as their relationship was undergoing immense strain. Kahlo had numerous health issues while Rivera, although he had been previously unfaithful, at this time had an affair with Kahlo's younger sister Cristina which understandably hurt Kahlo more than her husband's other infidelities. Kahlo too started to have her own extramarital affairs at this point. Not long after returning to Mexico from the States, she met the Hungarian photographer Nickolas Muray, who was on holiday in Mexico. The two began an on-and-off romantic affair that lasted 10 years, and it is Muray who is credited as the man who captured Kahlo most colorfully on camera.

While briefly separated from Diego following the affair with her sister and living in her own flat away from San Angel, Kahlo also had a short affair with the Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi . The two highly politically and socially conscious artists remained friends until Kahlo's death.

In 1936, Kahlo joined the Fourth International (a Communist organization) and often used La Casa Azul as a meeting point for international intellectuals, artists, and activists. She also offered the house where the exiled Russian Communist leader Leon Trotsky and his wife, Natalia Sedova, could take up residence once they were granted asylum in Mexico. In 1937, as well as helping Trotsky, Kahlo and the political icon embarked on a short love affair. Trotsky and his wife remained in La Casa Azul until mid-1939.

During a visit to Mexico City in 1938, the founder of Surrealism , André Breton , was enchanted with Kahlo's painting, and wrote to his friend and art dealer, Julien Levy , who quickly invited Kahlo to hold her first solo show at his gallery in New York. This time round, Kahlo traveled to the States without Rivera and upon arrival caused a huge media sensation. People were attracted to her colorful and exotic (but actually traditional) Mexican costumes and her exhibition was a success. Georgia O'Keeffe was one of the notable guests to attend Kahlo's opening. Kahlo enjoyed some months socializing in New York and then sailed to Paris in early 1939 to exhibit with the Surrealists there. That exhibition was not as successful and she became quickly tired of the over-intellectualism of the Surrealist group. Kahlo returned to New York hoping to continue her love affair with Muray, but he broke off the relationship as he had recently met somebody else. Thus Kahlo traveled back to Mexico City and upon her return Rivera requested a divorce.

Later Years and Death

Following her divorce, Kahlo moved back to La Casa Azul. She moved away from her smaller paintings and began to work on much larger canvases. In 1940 Kahlo and Rivera remarried and their relationship became less turbulent as Kahlo's health deteriorated. Between the years of 1940-1956, the suffering artist often had to wear supportive back corsets to help her spinal problems, she also had an infectious skin condition, along with syphilis. When her father died in 1941, this exacerbated both her depression and her health. She again was often housebound and found simple pleasure in surrounding herself by animals and in tending to the garden at La Casa Azul.

Meanwhile, throughout the 1940s, Kahlo's work grew in notoriety and acclaim from international collectors, and was included in several group shows both in the United States and in Mexico. In 1943, her work was included in Women Artists at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery in New York. In this same year, Kahlo accepted a teaching position at a painting school in Mexico City (the school known as La Esmeralda ), and acquired some highly devoted students with whom she undertook some mural commissions. She struggled to continue making a living from her art, never accommodating to clients' wishes if she did not like them, but luckily received a national prize for her painting Moses (1945) and then The Two Fridas painting was bought by the Museo de Arte Moderno in 1947. Meanwhile, the artist grew progressively ill. She had a complicated operation to try and straighten her spine, but it failed and from 1950 onwards, she was often confined to a wheelchair.

She continued to paint relatively prolifically in her final years while also maintaining her political activism, and protesting nuclear testing by Western powers. Kahlo exhibited one last time in Mexico in 1953 at Lola Alvarez Bravo's gallery, her first and only solo show in Mexico. She was brought to the event in an ambulance, with her four-poster bed following on the back of a truck. The bed was then placed in the center of the gallery so that she could lie there for the duration of the opening. Kahlo died in 1954 at La Casa Azul. While the official cause of death was given as pulmonary embolism, questions have been raised about suicide - either deliberate of accidental. She was 47 years old.

The Legacy of Frida Kahlo

As an individualist who was disengaged from any official artistic movement, Kahlo's artwork has been associated with Primitivism , Indigenism , Magic Realism , and Surrealism . Posthumously, Kahlo's artwork has grown profoundly influential for feminist studies and postcolonial debates, while Kahlo has become an international cultural icon. The artist's celebrity status for mass audiences has at times resulted in the compartmentalization of the artist's work as representative of interwar Latin American artwork at large, distanced from the complexities of Kahlo's deeply personal subject matter. Recent exhibitions, such as Unbound: Contemporary Art After Frida Kahlo (2014) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago have attempted to reframe Kahlo's cultural significance by underscoring her lasting impact on the politics of the body and Kahlo's challenge to mainstream aesthetics of representation. Dreamers Awake (2017) held at The White Cube Gallery in London further illustrated the huge influence that Frida Kahlo and a handful of other early female Surrealists have had on the development and progression of female art.

The legacy of Kahlo cannot be underestimated or exaggerated. Not only is it likely that every female artist making art since the 1950s will quote her as an influence, but it is not only artists and those who are interested in art that she inspires. Her art also supports people who suffer as result of accident, as result of miscarriage, and as result of failed marriage. Through imagery, Kahlo articulated experiences so complex, making them more manageable and giving viewers hope that they can endure, recover, and start again.

Influences and Connections

Useful Resources on Frida Kahlo

• Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo Our Pick By Hayden Herrera
• Frida Kahlo: Her Photos By Pablo Ortiz Monasterio
• Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up Our Pick By Claire Wilcox and Circe Henestrosa
• Frida Kahlo at Home Our Pick By Suzanne Barbezat
• Frida Kahlo: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (The Last Interview Series) By Hayden Herrera
• Frida Kahlo I Paint My Reality By Christina Burrus
• Frida & Diego: Art, Love, Life By Cateherine Reef
• The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait Our Pick By Carlos Fuentes
• Frida by Frida By Frida Kahlo and Raquel Tibol
• Frida Kahlo: The Paintings Our Pick By Hayden Herrera
• Frida Kahlo By Emma Dexter, Tanya Barson
• Frida Kahlo Retrospective By Peter von Becker, Ingried Brugger, Salamon Grimberg, Cristina Kahlo, Arnaldo Kraus, Helga Prignitz-Poda, Francisco Reyes Palma, Florian Steininger, Jeanette Zqingenberger
• Frida Kahlo Masterpieces of Art By Julian Beecroft
• Kahlo (Basic Art Series 2.0) Our Pick By Andrea Kettenmann
• Frida Kahlo's Gadren Our Pick By Adriana Zavala
• The Museum of Modern Art: Discussion of Portrait with Cropped Hair by Frida Kahlo
• Frida Kahlo: The woman behind the legend - TED_Ed
• Frida Kahlo's 'The Two Fridas” - Great Art Explained Our Pick
• Frida Kahlo: Life of an Artist - Art History School Our Pick
• A Tour of Frida Kahlo’s Blue House – La Casa Azul
• La Casa Azul - Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City Our Pick The artist's house museum
• Works from La Casa Azul - Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City Our Pick By The Google Cultural Institute
• Frida Kahlo at the Tate Modern Website of the 2005 Exhibition
• Why Contemporary Art Is Unimaginable Without Frida Kahlo By Priscilla Frank / The Huffington Post / April 29, 2014
• Diary of a Mad Artist By Amy Fine Collins / Vanity Fair / July 2011
• The People's Artist, Herself a Work of Art Our Pick By Holland Cotter / The New York Times / February 29, 2008
• Let Fridamania Commence By Adrian Searle / The Guardian / June 6, 2005
• The Trouble with Frida Kahlo By Stephanie Mencimer / Washington Monthly / June 2002
• Frida Kahlo: A Contemporary Feminist Reading Our Pick By Liza Bakewell / Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies / 1993
• Frida Kahlo: Portrait of Chronic Pain By Carol A. Courtney, Michael A. O'Hearn, and Carla C. Franck / Physical Therapy / January 2017
• Medical Imagery in the Art of Frida Kahlo Our Pick By David Lomas, Rosemary Howell / British Medical Journal / December 1989
• Fashioning National Identity: Frida Kahlo in “Gringolandia" Our Pick By Rebecca Block and Lynda Hoffman-Jeep / Women’s Art Journal / 1999
• Art Critics on Frida Kahlo: A Comparison of Feminist and Non-Feminist Voices By Elizabeth Garber / Art Education / March 1992
• NPR: Mexican Artist Used Politics to Rock the Boat Artist Judy Chicago discusses the book she co-authored: "Frida Kahlo: Face to Face"
• Frida Our Pick A 2002 Biographical Film on Frida Kahlo, Starring Salma Hayek
• The Frida Kahlo Corporation A Company with Products Inspired by Frida Kahlo
• How Frida Kahlo Became a Global Brand By Tess Thackara / Artsy.com / Dec 19, 2017 /

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Content compiled and written by Katlyn Beaver

Edited and revised, with Summary and Accomplishments added by Rebecca Baillie

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Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo : A Biography and Analysis of her Painting Style and School

Historical Background: Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón, known as Frida Kahlo, was born on July 6, 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico City, during a tumultuous period in Mexican history. She witnessed the Mexican Revolution and the emergence of a new cultural identity in Mexico. This backdrop profoundly influenced her life and art.

Early Life and Health Challenges: Kahlo’s early life was marked by adversity. At the age of six, she contracted polio, which left her with a limp. Later, in 1925, she survived a near-fatal bus accident that resulted in severe injuries, including a fractured spine and pelvis. These physical challenges and her convalescence became recurring themes in her art.

Painting Style: Frida Kahlo is renowned for her distinctive and often surreal painting style, which defies easy categorization but is often associated with Surrealism and Naïve art. Key elements of her style include:

• Self-Portraiture: Kahlo is best known for her many self-portraits. Her art is an exploration of self-identity, pain, and personal experiences. She used her own image as a canvas to convey her emotions and struggles.
• Symbolism: Her paintings are rich in symbolism, drawing from Mexican folk art, mythology, and religious iconography. Symbols such as monkeys, parrots, and thorns often appear, each with specific cultural or personal significance.
• Vibrant Colors: Kahlo employed a bold and vibrant color palette, influenced by traditional Mexican art. The colors convey the intensity of her emotions and the vividness of her Mexican heritage.
• Surrealism : While Kahlo’s work shares some elements with Surrealism, she resisted being categorized as a Surrealist. Her art explores the dreamlike, the subconscious, and the fantastical, often blurring the lines between reality and illusion.

School of Kahlo: While Frida Kahlo was a unique artist with a highly personal style, her influence on later artists is undeniable. The “School of Kahlo” is a term used to describe artists who drew inspiration from her work, either in terms of style, themes, or personal narrative. Some notable aspects of the “School of Kahlo” include:

• Exploration of Identity: Artists influenced by Kahlo often engage in self-portraiture and use their art to explore issues of identity, gender, and sexuality.
• Bold Use of Symbolism: Like Kahlo, these artists incorporate symbolism, drawing from their own cultural backgrounds and experiences.
• Feminism and Activism: Kahlo’s feminist and political themes have inspired subsequent artists to engage in activism through their art, addressing issues such as women’s rights, social justice, and identity politics.
• Exploring Pain and Suffering: Much like Kahlo, these artists often use their work to confront and process personal pain, trauma, and illness.

Legacy: Frida Kahlo’s art continues to resonate with audiences worldwide, transcending time and borders. Her unique blend of personal expression, cultural symbolism, and emotional depth has left an indelible mark on the art world. She remains a symbol of resilience and an inspiration to artists exploring personal narratives and cultural identity.

The Iconic Painter Frida Kahlo

I have spent three hours collecting, sorting and sifting through all of her paintings that I found. I posted the best images of her paintings, and easy to navigate and enjoy each painting without distraction. So far I had a vague image of Frida, but now I can see her unique character as human being and singular paintings as an artist.

Below is a copy of what I found written about Frida Kahlo in different websites:

Frida Kahlo Origins

Considered one of the Mexico’s greatest artist, Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico. She grew up in the family’s home where was later referred as the Blue House or Casa Azul. Her father is a German descendant and photographer. He immigrated to Mexico where he met and married her mother Matilde. Her mother is half Amerindian and half Spanish. Frida Kahlo had two older sisters and one younger sister.

Frida Kahlo Early Life

Frida Kahlo had poor health in her childhood. She contracted polio at age of 6 and had to be bedridden for nine months. This disease caused her right leg and food grow much thinner than her left one. She limped after she recovered from the polio.

She had been wearing long skirts to cover that for the rest of her life. Her father encouraged her to do lots of sports to help her recover.

She played soccer, went swimming, and even did wrestle, which is very unusual at that time for a girl. She had kept a very close relationship with her father for her whole life.

Frida Kahlo Early Education

Frida Kahlo attended the renowned National Preparatory School in Mexico city in year of 1922. There are only thirty-five female students enrolled in that school and she soon became famous for her outspokenness and bravery.

At this school she first met the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera for the first time. Rivera at that time was working on a mural called The Creation on the school campus. Frida often watched it and she told a friend she will marry him someday.

Frida Kahlo Injury

At the same year, Kahlo joined a gang of students which shared the similar political and intellectual views. She fell in love with the leader Alejandro Gomez Arias. On a September afternoon when she traveled with Gomez Arias on a bus the tragic accident happened.

The bus collided with a streetcar and Frida Kahlo was seriously injured. A steel handrail impaled her through the hip. Her spine and pelvis are fractured and this accident left her in a great deal of pain, both physically and physiologically.

She was injured so badly and had to stay in the Red Cross Hospital in Mexico City for several weeks. After that she returned home for further recovery.

She had to wear full body cast for three months. To kill the time and alleviate the pain, she started painting and finished her first first self-portrait the following year.

Frida Kahlo once said, “I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best”. Her parents encouraged her to paint and made a special easel made for her so she could paint in bed. They also gave her brushes and boxes of paints.

Frida Kahlo Painting Career

Frida Kahlo reconnected with Rivera in 1928. She asked him to evaluate her work and he encouraged her. The two soon started the romantic relationship. Despite her mother’s objection, Frida and Diego Rivera got married in the next year.

During their earlier years as a married couple, Frida had to move a lot based on Diego’s work. In 1930, they lived in San Francisco, California. Then they moved to New York City for Rivera’s artwork show at Museum of Modern Art. They later moved to Detroit while Diego Rivera worked for Detroit Institute of Arts.

In 1932, Kahlo added more realistic and surrealistic components in her painting style. In the painting titled Henry Ford Hospital(1932), Frida Kahlo lied on a hospital bed naked and was surrounded with a few things floating around, which includes a fetus, a flower, a pelvis, a snail, all connected by veins.

This painting was an expression of her feelings about her second miscarriage. It is as personal as her other self-portraits.

International Exposure

In 1933, Kahlo was living in New York City with husband Diego Rivera. Rivera was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller to create a mural named as Man at the Crossroads at Rockefeller Center. Rivera tried to include Vladimir Lenin in the painting, who is a communist leader.

Rockefeller stopped his work and that part was painted over. The couple had to move back to Mexico after this incident. They returned and live in San Angel, Mexico.

Family and Marriage

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s marriage is not an usual one. They had been keeping separate homes and studios for all those years. Diego had so many affairs and one of that was with Kahlo’s sister Cristina. Frida Kahlo was so sad and she cut off her long hair to show her desperation to the betrayal.

She has been longed for children but she cannot bear one due to the bus accident. She was heartbroken when she experienced a second miscarriage in 1934. Kahlo and Rivera has been separated for a few times but they always went back together.

In 1937 they helped Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia. Leon Trotsky is a exiled communist and rival of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Kahlo and Rivera welcomed the couple together and let them stay at her Blue House. Kahlo also had a brief affair with Leon Trotsky when the couple stayed at her house.

Surrealism / Expressionism 

In 1938, Frida Kahlo became friend of Andre Breton, who is one of the primary figures of Surrealism movement. Frida said she never considered herself as a Surrealist “until André Breton came to Mexico and told me I was one.” She also wrote, “Really I do not know whether my paintings are surrealist or not, but I do know that they are the frankest expression of myself”.

“Since my subjects have always been my sensations, my states of mind and the profound reactions that life has been producing in me, I have frequently objectified all this in figures of myself, which were the most sincere and real thing that I could do in order to express what I felt inside and outside of myself.”

In the same year, she had an exhibition at New York City gallery. She sold some of her paintings and got two commissions. One of that is from Clare Boothe Luce to paint her friend Dorothy Hale who committed suicide. She painted The Suicide of Dorothy Hale (1939), which tells the story of Dorothy’s tragic leap. The patron Luce was horrified and almost destroyed this painting.

The next year, 1939, Kahlo was invited by Andre Breton and went to Paris. Her works are exhibited there and she is befriended with artists such as Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and Pablo Picasso. She and Rivera got divorced that year and she painted one of her most famous painting, The Two Fridas(1939).

But soon Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera remarried in 1940. The second marriage is about the same as the first one. They still keep separate lives and houses. Both of them had infidelities with other people during the marriage.

Kahlo received a commission from the Mexican government for five portraits of important Mexican women in 1941, but she was unable to finish the project. She lost her beloved father that year and continued to suffer from chronic health problems. Despite her personal challenges, her work continued to grow in popularity and was included in numerous group shows around this time.

In the year of 1944, Frida Kahlo painted one of her most famous portrait, The Broken Column. In this painting she depicted herself naked and split down the middle. Her spine are shattered like column. She wears a surgical brace and there are nails all through her body, which is the indication of the consistent pain she went through.

In this painting, Frida expressed her physical challenges by her art. During that time, she had a few surgeries and had to wear special corsets to protect her back spine. She seeks lots of medical treatment for her chronic pain but nothing really worked.

Her health condition has been worsening in 1950. That year she was diagnosed with gangrene in her right foot. She became bedridden for the next nine month and had to stay in hospital and had several surgeries. But with great persistence, Frida Kahlo continued to work and paint.

In the year of 1953, she had a solo exhibition in Mexican. Although she had limited mobility at that time, she showed up on the exhibition’s opening ceremony. She arrived by ambulance, and welcomed the attendees, celebrated the ceremony in a bed the gallery set up for her. A few months later, she had to accept another surgery. Part of her right leg got amputated to stop the gangrene.

With the poor physical condition, she is also deeply depressed. She even had a inclination for suicide. Frida Kahlo has been out and in hospital during that year. But despite her health issues, she has been active with the political movement.

She showed up at the demonstration against US backed overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala on July 2. This is her last public appearance. About one week after her 47th birthday, Frida Kahlo passed away at her beloved Blue House. She was publicly reported to die of a pulmonary embolism, but there are speculation which was saying she died of a possible suicide.

Frida Kahlo’s fame has been growing after her death. Her Blue House was opened as a museum in the year of 1958. In 1970s the interest on her work and life are renewed due to the feminist movement, since she was viewed as an icon of female creativity.

In 1983, Hayden Herrera published his book on her, A Biography of Frida Kahlo, which drew more attention from the public to this great artist. In the year of 2002, a movie named Frida was released, staring Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo and Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera. This movie was nominated for six Academy Awards and won for Best Makeup and Original Score.

Frida Kahlo Facts

She wanted her birth to coincide with the beginning of the mexican revolution.

Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacan, Mexico City, but she often told people she was born in 1910, 3 years after her actual birth, so that people would directly associate her with the Mexican Revolution that began in 1910.

Kahlo became an embodiment of Mexican culture, especially indigenous culture, but she herself wasn’t fully Mexican: her father was born Carl Wilhelm Kahlo in Germany, either of Jewish and Hungarian ancestry, as Frida claimed, or from a long line of German Lutherans, as some new research argues. Frida’s mother, Matilde Calderon, was of indigenous Mexican and Spanish descent.

Throughout her life, Frida Kahlo wore skirts to disguise her leg deformities.

Polio at age 6 had left Frida Kahlo’s right leg thinner than her left. Some scholars believe Kahlo also suffered from spina bifida. And, at age 18, Kahlo suffered 11 fractures in her right leg and a crushed and dislocated foot, among many other injuries, when her bus collided with a trolley car. She underwent as many as 35 operations over the course of her life as a result of the accident.

She became a painter after a near fatal accident

On September 17th 1925 Frida and her friend Alex was riding in a bus when it crashed into a street trolley car. Recuperation after the bus accident took over a year, during which time Kahlo gave up her pre-med program and began painting.

Her father, an artist, lent her his oil paints and brushes, while her mom commissioned a special easel, so that Kahlo could paint in her hospital bed, and had a mirror placed in the canopy, enabling Kahlo’s self-portraiture.

She is known as the master of Self-Portraits

In her career, Frida Kahlo created 143 paintings out of which 55 are self-portraits. Kahlo said, “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.

” Her self portraits often include interpretations of physical and psychological wounds. Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits are considered among the finest ever created. Her most famous self-portrait is perhaps Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird.

Frida’s painting is the first work by a 20th-century Mexican artist to be purchased by an internationally renowned museum.

In 1939, the Louvre bought Kahlo’s The Frame, making it the first work by a 20th-century Mexican artist to be purchased by an internationally renowned museum. Despite such an accomplishment, Kahlo was still known for most of her life, and the 20th-century, as the wife of Diego Rivera, whom she married in 1929. Since the 1980s, though, Kahlo has been known for her own merit.

Several biographies have been written and movies about her life have been made. Her former home, La Casa Azul, is now a museum.

The largest exhibit ever of her paintings, held last summer for the 100th anniversary of her birth, broke all attendance records at Mexico’s Museum of the Fine Arts Palace, although it was only open for 2 months.

Frida Kahlo was a bisexual

Kahlo’s marriage with Rivera was tumultuous with both having multiple affairs. Frida had affairs with both men and women. Rivera even had an affair with Kahlo’s younger sister Cristina which infuriated Kahlo. They divorced in 1939 but remarried a year later. Although their second marriage was as troubled as the first, Kahlo remained married to Rivera till her death.

She had an affair with the founder of the Red Army

The founder of Red Army, the famous Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky came to Mexico to receive political asylum from the Soviet Union. He first stayed with Rivera and later had an affair with Kahlo. Kahlo created a painting titled Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky to commemorate her brief affair.

Frida called Hitler “the lost child” in her painting

Her complex 1945 painting, Moses, presents the sun as “the centre of all religions.” The top portion of the painting contains gods; the middle section is full of “heroes” like Alexander the Great, Martin Luther, Napoleon, and – most interestingly – Hitler, whom Kahlo called “the lost child.”

The bottom of the painting is filled with the masses and scenes relating to the process of evolution. In the middle is the infant Moses, with the third eye of wisdom. The painting was inspired by the book Moses and Monotheism by Sigmund Freud, which makes a link between Ancient Egyptian beliefs, Moses, and the origins of monotheistic religion.

She became famous a couple of decades after her death

Kahlo died 20 days after her 47th birthday on July 26, 1954. A few days before her death, she wrote in her diary:

“I hope the exit is joyful – and I hope never to return – Frida”.

Kahlo was moderately successful during her lifetime and it was only several years after her death that her work became widely acclaimed. During her lifetime she was mainly known in Mexico as Rivera’s wife, now she is popular worldwide and Rivera is known as her husband.

Her work ‘Roots’ set the record for a Latin American Piece of Art

Frida Kahlo was a central figure in the Neomexicanismo Art Movement in Mexico which emerged in the 1970s. Her art has been called folk art due to traditional elements and some call it Surrealist though Kahlo herself said, “They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn’t. I never painted dreams.

I painted my own reality.” In May 2006, her self-portrait Roots sold for US$5.6 million dollars setting an auction record for a Latin American piece of art.

Two famous movies have been made on her life

Numerous articles, books and documentaries have been made about Kahlo’s life and art, including the bestseller Frida: The Biography of Frida Kahlo (1983) by Hayden Herrera. The movie ‘Frida, naturaleza viva’ was released in 1983 and was a huge success.

In 2002 another biographical film ‘Frida’, in which Salma Hayek plays her role, grossed over $US 50 million and won two Academy Awards.

Frida Kahlo Quotes

My painting carries with it the message of pain.” – Frida Kahlo Painting completed my life. ” – Frida Kahlo The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.” – Frida Kahlo There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.” – Frida Kahlo Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?” – Frida Kahlo I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you. ” – Frida Kahlo I love you more than my own skin. ” – Frida Kahlo I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.” – Frida Kahlo I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.” – Frida Kahlo I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.” – Frida Kahlo I hope the exit is joyful and i hope never to return” – Frida Kahlo Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.” – Frida Kahlo I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.” – Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo Paintings

— via: fridakahlo.

Tags Gallery oil-painting painting

The Stories and Symbolism Behind 10 of Frida Kahlo’s Most Famous Paintings

Frida photographed by her father, Guillermo Kahlo, in 1932. (Photo: Guillermo Kahlo via Wikimedia Commons , Public domain). This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, My Modern Met may earn an affiliate commission. Please read our disclosure for more info.

Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is renowned for her symbolic subject matter, colorful canvases, and extensive series of  self-portraits . Inspired by “whatever passes through [her] head without any other consideration,” her paintings are deeply personal. Given the intimate and emblematic nature of her pieces, their messages and motifs may seem too obscure to interpret. When viewed through a contextual lens, however, the meanings behind her poignant paintings begin to materialize.

Kahlo explores several themes in her oeuvre, from an interest in her ancestry and heritage to her struggles with childlessness and femininity. Her most well-known paintings, however, seem to revolve around two major events in her life: her traumatic divorce from fellow artist Diego Rivera, and a nearly fatal accident she survived as a teenager. Here, we contextualize seven of her most famous paintings in order to grasp the themes, thoughts, and emotions behind them.

Learn about 10 famous Frida Kahlo paintings.

Self-portrait with thorn necklace and hummingbird.

  Ver esta publicación en Instagram   Una publicación compartida por Harry Ransom Center (@ransomcenter)

Throughout the course of her career, Kahlo painted 55 portrayals of herself, including  Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird . Today, this piece remains one of her most widely-recognized self-portraits, due to the moving context in which it was created and the symbolic nature of its imagery.

Kahlo completed this piece in 1940, one year after her tumultuous divorce from Mexican muralist Diego Rivera . Given the timing of its creation,  Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird is widely believed to be a reflection of her emotional state following the couple's split.

In the painting, Kahlo is positioned in front of foliage and between a stalking panther and a monkey. (She and Rivera had kept many monkeys as pets, leading many to speculate that they served as surrogates for the children the couple was tragically unable to conceive.) Around her neck, she wears a necklace made out of thorns and adorned with a seemingly lifeless hummingbird. Though the peculiar accessory draws blood from her neck, her expression remains stoic. This calm approach to pain is typical of Kahlo, who—even when devastated over her divorce—poignantly stated that “at the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.”

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The Two Fridas

  Ver esta publicación en Instagram   Una publicación compartida por Museo De Arte Moderno MX (@museoartemodernomx)

Like Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird , The Two Fridas was painted in response to Kahlo's separation from Rivera. In this piece, Kahlo explores two sides of herself. On the left, she depicts herself as a broken-hearted woman clad in a traditionally European gown. On the right, her heart is whole, and she is wearing a modern Mexican dress—a style she adopted while married to Rivera.

As they share a bench, the two Fridas hold hands. This embrace, however, is not all that connects them; from their hearts sprouts a single vein, which branches out and wraps around their arms. On the left, Frida cuts the vein with surgical scissors, causing it to bleed. On the right, the vein leads to a tiny portrait of Rivera, clutched by Frida and nearly invisible to the unobservant eye.

This unique self-portrait likely represents the inner identity struggle faced by Kahlo as she dealt with her divorce. Though it seems to nod to the work of the surrealists, Kahlo insisted that such iconography was rooted in real-life and, therefore, a direct reflection of her persona. “I never paint dreams or nightmares,” she explained. “I paint my own reality.”

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Self Portrait with Cropped Hair

  Ver esta publicación en Instagram   Una publicación compartida por Meghan Valrie Fischer (@mvalriekahlo)

Following her divorce, Kahlo sought to reinvent herself. In an act of defiance against her ex-husband, she painted  Self Portrait with Cropped Hair .

Seated on a bright yellow chair with scissors in hand and locks of hair surrounding her, the artist is shown with a short haircut and clad in a man's suit. Above her floats a pertinent lyric from a Mexican folk song. When translated, it reads: “Look, if I loved you it was because of your hair. Now that you are without hair, I don't love you anymore.”

Clearly, Kahlo's androgynous approach to her appearance in  Self Portrait with Cropped Hair  is a far cry from the long hair, flowing dresses, and feminine jewelry exhibited in most depictions of her. Fascinatingly, however, this is not the first time she has experimented with a masculine look. In photos of the artist as a child and teenager , it is apparent that she often wore suits—even when her female friends and family retained a more “feminine” appearance.

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Self-Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States

Photo: Ambra75 via Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 4.0 )

Kahlo and Rivera lived in America for a period of four years, between 1930–1934. While her husband thrived in the limelight and found great success among artistic circles—including an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York—, Kahlo experienced many hardships, including failed pregnancies. Self-Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States depicts Kahlo's dislike for the industrial and capitalist culture of the U.S. as well as her longing for the agrarian lifestyle of Mexico.

On the right is a simplified portrayal of Detroit—one of the cities in which she and River lived—which is made up of tall skyscrapers and a manufacturing plant producing plumes of smoke. On the left is an illustration of Mexico, featuring plants, vegetables, ancient statues, a skull, and temple ruins in the background. Although Kahlo was deeply unhappy during this period, she grew considerably as an artist and was able to experiment in different mediums.

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Henry Ford Hospital

  Ver esta publicación en Instagram   Una publicación compartida por Museo Dolores Olmedo (@elolmedomx)

One of Kahlo's most heartbreaking paintings, Henry Ford Hospital depicts her convalescence at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit after suffering a miscarriage. A series of red veins sprout from her belly and connect her to key elements of what she was going through—a fetus, referencing her unborn child; her pelvis, damaged from the streetcar accident; an orchid that Rivera gifted her during her stay at the hospital; a snail to represent how days went slowly for her; and a machine, tying her to the industrial spirit of the city where she was at the time.

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My Grandparents, My parents, and I (Family Tree)

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Museo Frida Kahlo (@museofridakahlo)

My Grandparents, My Parents, and I is one of two family tree paintings Kahlo ever created. It documents her mixed-race heritage, with her Mexican mother and Mexican maternal grandparents on the left, and her German father and German grandparents on the right. Kahlo includes a depiction of herself as a young child standing at the center and holding the ribbon that ties all of these figures together.

The Broken Column

“There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the train, the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.” In 1925, 18-year-old Kahlo was involved in a streetcar accident that left her with a broken spinal column, among many other major injuries. “A man saw me having a tremendous hemorrhage. He carried me and put me on a billiard table until the Red Cross [ambulance] came for me.” In Broken Column , Kahlo presents a tragic glimpse into the lifelong effects of the accident.

The painting depicts Kahlo after spinal surgery. Nude except for a hospital sheet and a metal and plaster corset, her body is pierced with nails (perhaps as an allusion to Christian iconography of Christ on the cross)—and is shown split open. Visible in the crack that bisects her body is a crumbling Ionic column, which has replaced her spine and symbolizes her broken body. In the background, a barren landscape is similarly fissured, and a stormy sky looms overhead.

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In 1929, Kahlo painted The Bus , a depiction that recalls what she had seen moments before the life-altering bus accident, which took place four years earlier. The piece is one of her closest encounters with realism, as opposed to the more surrealistic compositions of her most famous paintings.

On September 17, 1925, Kahlo was returning home after a day at the National Preparatory School. “I was an intelligent young girl, but impractical, in spite of all the freedom I had won. Perhaps for this reason, I did not assess the situation nor did I guess the kind of wounds I had,” Kahlo recalled .

She never depicted the actual accident in her work, but Kahlo's painting shows us how calm and common everything looked as this bus traversed the streets of Mexico City, and how transit brought together people from all walks of life—workers, an Indigenous woman with her child, and a middle class couple sitting across from Kahlo's point of view.

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Self-Portrait as a Tehuana

One of her most famous artworks, Self-Portrait as a Tehuana —also known as Diego on My Mind —shows Kahlo's deep love for Mexican folklore. Here, she wears the headpiece of a traditional Tehuana dress, created and worn by the Zapotec from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region, in the state of Oaxaca. She also gives a nod to surrealism to show how, despite going through a tumultuous divorce and facing Rivera's affairs, she can't stop thinking about him.

There is no consensus about what the thread emanating from her head means. To some, it is a spiderweb to lure Rivera back and keep him by her side; to others, it's her thoughts sprouting from her mind as the delicate headpiece (which seems to represent Rivera's fellow obsession with Indigenous Mexican culture) slowly unravels.

The Wounded Deer  

A post shared by Desha Rambhajan (@desharambhajan) on Jul 6, 2018 at 9:23pm PDT

The Wounded Deer is another self-portrait that symbolically addresses the physical and emotional pain associated with Kahlo's injuries.

In the piece, Kahlo has depicted herself as a deer—a choice perhaps inspired by her beloved pet, Granizo. Struck by arrows and positioned behind a broken branch (an object used in traditional Mexican funeral rites), it is clear that the deer is likely going to die. At the time of the painting's creation, Kahlo's health was in decline. In addition to failed corrective surgeries from having polio at age 6 (which caused her right leg to appear much thinner than the other) and the ongoing physical pain associated with her accident, she also suffered from gangrene and other illnesses.

Furthermore, like  The Broken Column , The Wounded Deer references Christian iconography. According to the bible, Saint Sebastian, an early Christian saint, and martyr, was killed by an onslaught of arrows. His death has remained a popular subject in art for centuries, and likely inspired Kahlo's work and choice of subject matter.

“St. Sebastian” (panel) by Andrea Mantagna (1480). (Photo: Andrea Mantegna, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons )

Sadly, Kahlo passed away in 1954 from pulmonary embolism at her beloved la Casa Azul (the Blue House ) in Mexico City, which today is home to the Frida Kahlo Museum. Thanks to her highly personal approach to art, however, her innermost emotions and admirable imagination are perpetually preserved in a captivating collection of works.

This article has been edited and updated. 

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Early years and bus accident

Marriage to diego rivera and travels to the united states, first solo exhibitions.

• The Two Fridas and later works
• The Frida Kahlo Museum and posthumous reputation

Who is Frida Kahlo?

• What was Surrealism and its goal?
• What are the characteristics of Surrealism?
• How are Surrealism and Dada related?
• Which artists practiced Surrealism?

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• Official Site of Frida Kahlo
• Jewish Women's Archive - Biography of Frida Kahlo
• National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Frida Kahlo
• Artnet - Biography of Frida Kahlo
• The Art Story - Frida Kahlo
• PBS - The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo
• Art in Context - Frida Kahlo - Mother of Mexican Magical Realism
• My Hero - Biography of Frida Kahlo
• Frida Kahlo - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
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• Table Of Contents

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter best known for her uncompromising and brilliantly colored self-portraits that deal with such themes as identity, the human body, and death. Although she denied the connection, she is often identified as a Surrealist. She was also known for her tumultuous relationship with muralist Diego Rivera.

What tragic accident happened to Frida Kahlo?

In 1925 Frida Kahlo was involved in a bus accident, which so seriously injured her that she had to undergo more than 30 medical operations in her lifetime. During her slow recovery, Kahlo taught herself to paint and studied the art of the Old Masters.

When did Frida Kahlo paint Self-Portrait Wearing a Velvet Dress ?

Kahlo painted Self-Portrait Wearing a Velvet Dress, a regal waist-length portrait of herself against a dark background with roiling stylized waves, in 1926. Although the painting is fairly abstract, Kahlo’s soft modeling of her face shows her interest in realism.

Which of Frida Kahlo's paintings is displayed in the Louvre?

The Louvre acquired Frida Kahlo's work The Frame ( c. 1938), making her the first 20th-century Mexican artist to be included in the museum’s collection.

When was the Frida Kahlo Museum established?

After Kahlo’s death in 1954, Diego Rivera had redesigned Frida Kahlo's childhood home, La Casa Azul (“the Blue House”), in Coyoacán, as a museum dedicated to her life. The Frida Kahlo Museum opened to the public in 1958, a year after Rivera’s death.

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Frida Kahlo (born July 6, 1907, Coyoacán , Mexico—died July 13, 1954, Coyoacán) was a Mexican painter best known for her uncompromising and brilliantly colored self-portraits that deal with such themes as identity, the human body , and death. Although she denied the connection, she is often identified as a Surrealist . In addition to her work, Kahlo was known for her tumultuous relationship with muralist Diego Rivera (married 1929, divorced 1939, remarried 1940).

Kahlo was born to a German father of Hungarian descent and a Mexican mother of Spanish and Native American descent. Later, during her artistic career, Kahlo explored her identity by frequently depicting her ancestry as binary opposites: the colonial European side and the indigenous Mexican side. As a child, she suffered a bout of polio that left her with a slight limp, a chronic ailment she would endure throughout her life. Kahlo was especially close to her father, who was a professional photographer, and she frequently assisted him in his studio, where she acquired a sharp eye for detail. Although Kahlo took some drawing classes, she was more interested in science , and in 1922 she entered the National Preparatory School in Mexico City with an interest in eventually studying medicine. While there she met Rivera, who was working on a mural for the school’s auditorium.

In 1925 Kahlo was involved in a bus accident, which so seriously injured her that she had to undergo more than 30 medical operations in her lifetime. During her slow recovery, Kahlo taught herself to paint, and she read frequently, studying the art of the Old Masters. In one of her early paintings, Self-Portrait Wearing a Velvet Dress (1926), Kahlo painted a regal waist-length portrait of herself against a dark background with roiling stylized waves. Although the painting is fairly abstract, Kahlo’s soft modeling of her face shows her interest in naturalism. The stoic gaze so prevalent in her later art is already evident, and the exaggeratedly long neck and fingers reveal her interest in the Mannerist painter Il Bronzino . After her convalescence, Kahlo joined the Mexican Communist Party (PCM), where she met Rivera once again. She showed him some of her work, and he encouraged her to continue to paint.

Soon after marrying Rivera in 1929, Kahlo changed her personal and painting style. She began to wear the traditional Tehuana dress that became her trademark. It consisted of a flowered headdress, a loose blouse, gold jewelry, and a long ruffled skirt. Her painting Frieda and Diego Rivera (1931) shows not only her new attire but also her new interest in Mexican folk art . The subjects are flatter and more abstract than those in her previous work. The towering Rivera stands to the left, holding a palette and brushes, the objects of his profession. He appears as an important artist, while Kahlo, who is petite and demure beside him, with her hand in his and painted with darker skin than in her earlier work, conveys the role she presumed he wanted: a traditional Mexican wife.

Kahlo painted that work while traveling in the United States (1930–33) with Rivera, who had received commissions for murals from several cities. During this time, she endured a couple of difficult pregnancies that ended prematurely. After suffering a miscarriage in Detroit and later the death of her mother, Kahlo painted some of her most-harrowing works. In Henry Ford Hospital (1932) Kahlo depicted herself hemorrhaging on a hospital bed amid a barren landscape, and in My Birth (1932) she painted a rather taboo scene of a shrouded woman giving birth.

In 1933 Kahlo and Rivera returned to Mexico , where they lived in a newly constructed house comprising separate individual spaces joined by a bridge. The residence became a gathering spot for artists and political activists, and the couple hosted the likes of Leon Trotsky and André Breton , a leading Surrealist who championed Kahlo’s work. Breton wrote the introduction to the brochure for her first solo exhibition, describing her as a self-taught Surrealist. The exhibition was held at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York in 1938, and it was a great success. The following year Kahlo traveled to Paris to show her work. There she met more Surrealists, including Marcel Duchamp , the only member she reportedly respected. The Louvre also acquired one of her works, The Frame (c. 1938), making Kahlo the first 20th-century Mexican artist to be included in the museum’s collection.

The Hidden Meanings In Frida Kahlo's Paintings

Explore the wonderful details included in the artist's works with the help of art camera.

By Google Arts & Culture

Words by Rebecca Fulleylove

Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky (1937) by Frida Kahlo National Museum of Women in the Arts

Frida Kahlo’s paintings have always been much more than simply depictions of herself or the world around her. Rather her artworks act as a tool of expression, a way for her to visually translate her memories and the complex ideas that ran through her mind. Her self-portraits in particular are laden with hidden details and rich symbolism that, once unpicked, reveal a deeper insight into the artist. Here, with the help of Art Camera , which has captured these works in incredible detail, we explore eight of Kahlo’s paintings to uncover the hidden meaning within them.

As the title suggests, this painting from 1937 was a gift to Leon Trotsky and commemorates the brief affair Kahlo had with the exiled Russian revolutionary leader shortly after his arrival in Mexico. It’s a flattering self-portrait of the artist, where she presents herself dressed elegantly in a long embroidered skirt, shawl and delicate gold jewelry. Her traditional attire alludes to a movement among Mexican artists working during the Revolutionary decade, which saw them reject European influences and return to their country’s roots and folk traditions. This influence can also be seen in the composition of the painting where Kahlo stands on what looks to be a curtained stage. This is reflective of Mexican vernacular paintings called "retablos" that Kahlo collected, which were devotional images of the Virgin or saints painted on tins.

In the painting, Kahlo stands confidently holding a bouquet of flowers and most interestingly a letter to Trotsky. Zooming in, we can see the letter reads: “To Leon Trotsky, with all my love, I dedicate this painting on 7th November 1937. Frida Kahlo in Saint Angel, Mexico”. This portrait comes at the end of the pair’s secret affair, which fizzled out after the summer months when Kahlo “grew tired” of Trotsky.

Retrato de Miguel N Lira (1927) by Frida Kahlo Instituto Tlaxcalteca de la Cultura

This portrait of the Mexican poet Miguel N. Lira was requested by the subject himself, who was a close friend of Kahlo. The painting is based on a photograph she was given and though the artist supposedly wasn’t happy with the final portrait, Lira was. The artwork is full of small details that capture Lira’s personality and allude to landmarks in his life. The brightly colored pinwheel and the hobbyhorse for instance refers to childhood, and the book placed in his right has an image of a guava on it with the word ‘you’, as these were the titles of Lira’s first two published books.

Other details include the painted R, which many have said could correspond to the name of Lira’s then-girlfriend, Rebeca Torres, with the figure or doll in the top right corner also a potential reference to her. With all these details placed alongside an actual portrait of Lira, Kahlo demonstrates her ability to create a rich tapestry of a person within her works, rather than simply creating a like-for-like depiction of her subjects.

Marxism Will Give Health to the Ill (1954) by Frida Kahlo Museo Frida Kahlo

The presence of more politically-charged imagery within Kahlo’s work was the artist trying to “serve the Party” and “benefit the Revolution”. In this painting, we see Frida embracing the Utopian belief that she, and everyone else in the world, can be freed from pain and suffering and saved by the political convictions of Marxism. Here we see Kahlo in a leather corset standing in front of a divided background, with half of it representing good things and peace, and the other crowded with symbols of evil and destruction. Alongside the two hands of Marxism that cure her, one of the most interesting parts of the painting is the red book she holds, which is the red book of Marxism. Fully supported in her ideology, we see Kahlo get rid of her crutches, alluding to the “giving health to the ill” part of the painting’s title.

This artwork is one of Kahlo’s last portraits and remains unfinished. The artist reworked the piece several times and even changed the title, with the original name as Peace on Earth so the Marxist Science may Save the Sick and Those Oppressed by Criminal Yankee Capitalism . Definitely a more direct interpretation of the artist’s intention for the piece.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Museo frida kahlo, pancho villa and adelita, instituto tlaxcalteca de la cultura, balancing act: the paintings of fanny sanín, national museum of women in the arts, frida and "los cachuchas", self-portrait dedicated to leon trotsky, 1937, portrait of miguel n. lira, 5 latinx artists from the national museum of women in the arts, the early work of frida kahlo, lgbtqia+ activism in the arts, artist spotlight: the art and impact of jaune quick-to-see smith.

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FRIDA KAHLO: HER LIFE, HER ART

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Although the scene would surely have appealed to her, we do not know how Kahlo would have chosen to paint it. Most likely there would have been recognizable images of her husband, Diego Rivera, and of other art-world notables. But from Kahlo’s earlier works, we can be fairly sure that her own nearly beautiful face would have stared out of the canvas, her dark eyes under their thick, connecting eyebrows set in a gaze that was at once impassive and passionate, her full red lips surmounted by the slight shadow of a moustache. Certainly, too, she would have depicted her long flowing Mexican Indian costume and her jewels, ribbons, flowers and combs—adornments that made her as much an art object as a personality. This finery often turns up in Kahlo’s self-portraits, where it both conceals and makes poignant the most important fact of her life: pain.

There were other sufferings as well. Gregarious and venturesome, she was all too familiar with the loneliness and tedium of invalidism. She longed to have children, but her smashed pelvis led only to several miscarriages and at least three doctor-ordered abortions. And finally there was the anguish of being deceived and abandoned by the man she loved, her husband, Diego Rivera.

Kahlo learned from Rivera to combine the simplifications of popular art with more complex ideas derived from European tradition. But she avoids the traps into which painters who intentionally adopt a primitive style all too often fall: what might have been quaint has a steely strength of drawing, what might have been arch has a simple breadth—qualities that recall Mexican mural painting. Kahlo never simply patches together naive style and sophisticated aims. She succeeds in using the dissonance between style and content to inject tension into her imagery. The figure of Kahlo herself becomes the nexus of this disjunctive tension, and the viewer immediately senses it.

Clearly the artist was anything but simple. She traveled much, visiting Paris twice, and often stayed in the U.S. Her circle of friends, wide and cosmopolitan, included André Breton and Marcel Duchamp. In addition, she surely admired and studied the work of Gauguin, Rousseau, de Chirico, Ernst, Dalì, Tanguy and Magritte, for traces of their influence can be found in her fantastic imagery and folklore style. Kahlo’s work is ingeniously ingenuous, and her primitivism thus seems an ironic stance. It allowed her to mask, and to mock, the intimate torments of the self.

Her true subjects were embodied states of mind—her joys and sorrows. Always closely connected with the events of her life, these images convey the immediacy of lived experience, combining fantasy and actual events as if the two were inseparable and equally real. It is significant, too, that in the heyday of the Mexican mural movement, Kahlo chose to make her paintings modest in size, personal in subject and private in purpose. Such attributes were low on the list of priorities among the great muralists. On the contrary, the muralists were impelled by external social circumstances, believing that art should be a collective endeavor that could broadcast shared revolutionary values in synthetic scenes populated by historical or type-cast figures. Kahlo, by contrast, eschewed epic scope and scale; she painted mostly self-portraits, suggesting that the confinement of invalidism led to a confinement in subject matter. Indeed, the peculiar intensity of her paintings convinces us that they were somehow therapeutic, crucial to the artist’s well-being. Her sex also had such a patent impact on her art that Kahlo has become something of an underground heroine among feminist artists in recent years. 1 She pursued self-awareness through art at a time and place when society almost prohibited a woman from seriously following a career. She had the admirable ability to differentiate herself as an artist from Rivera’s driving energy, heroic aspirations and immense fame—all without competing with, or deferring to, him. Indeed she was known as Frida Kahlo, never Frida Rivera; she commanded attention as a painter and exotic personality quite apart from her connection with her husband. Her work explored private intensities of female experience—having abortions, for example—subjects that were thought wildly inappropriate for art. In a country where women were advised until recently to wear long sleeves, this took some courage.

The result is an independence from mainstream modes that is exemplary to women artists looking for an alternative to the dialectics of modernism. They recognize the specifically female aspect of Kahlo’s imagery. Yet Kahlo conceives of the body and face schismatically in her self-portraits. Her body, either nude or dressed in ruffles and ribbons, she paints as subject for the artist’s scrutiny: the female in the passive role of pretty object, victim of pain, or participant in nature’s cycles of fecundity. Her face, by contrast, is regal, defiant, almost androgynous.(Kahlo appears much more typically feminine, i.e. soft and delicate, in photographs than in self-portraits.) Looking at her face in a mirror, Kahlo perceives herself as depictor, not as object depicted. She thus becomes both active artist and passive model, dispassionate investigator of what it feels like to be a woman and passionate repository of feminine emotions. Rivera perhaps recognized this strange dichotomy in his wife’s self-image when he called her “ la pintora más pintor ,”—using both the feminine and masculine terms. André Breton, too, caught the feeling of the self-portraits when he spoke of Kahlo’s art as “a ribbon around a bomb . . . there is no art more exclusively feminine.”

Roots , 1953, makes the point. The painting is the reverie of a bedridden, childless woman longing to join cycles of life and matter beyond the singularity of her own body. Here Kahlo reclines, like Rousseau’s Sleeping Gypsy , in a strange desert landscape, her elbow propped on a pillow. As in a dream, her body extends over a large region of volcanic terrain without having any logical relationship in terms of scale or placement to the surrounding mountains and ravines. But Kahlo tries to overcome her separateness—that Mexican sense of solitude that Octavio Paz called “a form of orphanhood”—by painting concrete ties between her body and the earth. A large section of her torso is removed to create a window through which the barren landscape can be seen. Out of this mystic womb grows a vine that spreads over the desert floor so that Kahlo becomes a source of life. Pliant green stems resembling arteries leading to and from the heart take the place of brittle, injured bones; they exemplify an interweaving of plant and human life that Kahlo used to express her wish for fertility and her sense of her own tenuous hold on existence. 2 The veins of the vine leaves are red with her blood as it courses beyond the leaves themselves to create life in a barren earth. Possibly Roots also alludes to the artist’s desire that her body fertilize the life cycle of nature after her death. The evidence: the earth at Kahlo’s feet opens into a dark pit that could be a womb or a grave.

Frida Kahlo was born on July 7, 1910, in Mexico City’s suburb of Coyoacán. Her father was a German-Jewish photographer who specialized in recording the splendors of Colonial architecture. Her mother was a Mexican Roman Catholic of Indian and Spanish extraction. In recollecting her childhood, Kahlo proudly dated her social conscience from childhood experiences during the Mexican Revolution. At the age of six, she was confined to her room with paralytic polio, an illness from which she fully recovered, except that one leg grew slightly larger than the other. With outdoor activities thus curtailed, her childhood pleasures were reading, singing and fantasizing. She learned five languages: German, French, Spanish, English and a Mexican Indian dialect.

“My childhood was marvelous,” she wrote, “because although my father was sick (he had vertigos every month and a half) he was a great example to me of tenderness, of work (photographer and also painter) and above all of understanding for all my problems which from the age of four were already of a social nature.” In Kahlo’s late Portrait of Don Guillermo Kahlo , 1952, her nervous, keen-eyed father and his camera are surrounded by a few large round cells with dark nuclei and by a swarm of small dark marks that suggest sperm. (Such microscopic organisms appear in several Kahlo paintings. They spring from her interest in medicine 3 —she originally wanted to be a doctor—and are based on illustrations in medical books, especially the ones she owned on parturition.) An inscribed scroll below her father’s bust, a device derived from Mexican Colonial paintings, speaks of his generous, intelligent, valiant character and suggests that his will to work despite illness fortified Kahlo’s own artistic ambitions as well as her political resolve: “He suffered for 60 years with epilepsy, and yet never stopped working and he fought against Hitler . . .”

By the time that she was 13, Kahlo was a clever mischief-maker with an already active social conscience;she belonged to a lively left-wing clique at the National Preparatory School and to the Young Communist League as well. Unlike most girls her age, Kahlo wore her hair short and dressed in a leather jacket and denim pants with patches; the pants hid the effects of polio on her legs. When she was still at the preparatory school studying to become a medical student, she often went after class to watch Rivera paint at the nearby Ministry of Education. Indeed, it appears that she became so infatuated with the huge, ugly muralist that she announced to her classmates, “My ambition is to have a child by Diego Rivera and I’m going to tell him so someday.” Shortly thereafter, she was crushed in the bus accident.

During her convalescence at home one year later, Kahlo began to paint using a specially constructed easel so that she could work in bed. 4 The small body of work that she produced between 1926 and her death in 1954 is a kind of self-creation and a challenge to fate. Her self-portraits served as alternate realities to extend and make concrete her restricted and threatened hold on life. One of her friends, sensing this, remarked: “She is the only artist to have given birth to herself.”

The images of Kahlo—often footless, headless, cracked open, hemorrhaging or with heart extracted—may have been a form of exorcism. By projecting pain outward onto the canvas in the form of a visual image she both admitted her suffering and turned it into fantasy. She created an alternate Frida Kahlo to bear the burden of invalidism.

In The Broken Column , 1944, anguish is made vivid by nails driven into Kahlo’s face and naked body and into the sheet wrapped around her hips. Like a Christian martyr, she displays her wounds. But she does not look heavenward for solace; realist even in her fantasy, Kahlo confronts pain head-on. Tears dot her cheeks, but her features are unflinching, because she preferred to convey her emotion by symbols and wounds. The contrast between her acute physical torture and the masklike composure of her face makes the pain in The Broken Column and other works deeply unsettling. She uses the immense expanse of ravine-gashed desert as a metaphor for her own torn body, deprived of potential for creating life. By contrast, in her bust-length self-portraits, thick, succulent vegetation often surrounds her face and closes off space. The faults and fissures of the land speak of violence done to her body.

The Broken Column depicts a cracked and crumbling Ionic column in the place of Kahlo’s own injured vertebrae in the opened hollow of her torso. Life is replaced by a permanent ruin. The orthopedic corset that holds her body together suggests the imprisonment of invalidism. A disjointed, surrealistic entry in her diary illuminates the meaning of The Broken Column : “To hope with anguish retained, the broken column, and the immense look, without walking, in the vast path . . . moving my life created of steel.”

Some time after her accident, Kahlo took her first three paintings to show to Rivera. He liked her work and he liked her, too. After a fiery courtship, they were married in August, 1929. The marriage of the exotic 19-year-old invalid to a titan more than twice her age (and almost twice her size) was marked by mutual dependency and moments of fierce passion. Most observers note the contrast between Rivera and Kahlo—his extreme egocentricity and her generous spirit. Thanks to his mania for publicity, their marriage was part of the public domain. Yet one close friend suggests that she might have preferred a more private life: “She had to be priestess in Diego’s temple.” Their adventures were gobbled by the press; the loves, battles, separations and sufferings of these sacred monsters were beyond the petty censuring strictures of Mexico’s conservatism. Like saints or demigods, the Riveras were called by first name only. Diego and Frida became coin of the Mexican national treasure.

Frida’s obsession for Diego is expressed in Diego on My Mind , where Diego’s portrait appears in the third eye in Frida’s forehead (she called it the “eye of super-sensibility”), and in Self-Portrait as a Tehuana , 1943, in which a small bust of Diego rests on Frida’s eyebrows. In the latter, a sinister web of roots or veins radiates outward from Frida’s Tehuana headdress as if she wished to extend her vitality beyond the confines of her body. Frida’s face, with its heavy eyebrows and faint moustache, peers from the center of the web like a female spider; she seems to have consumed Diego in her obsession and lodged the thought of him within her own being in the form of a portrait within a portrait.

Much of Kahlo’s journal is a prose poem addressed to Rivera. His name is everywhere. In moments of loneliness she cried out: “Diego, I am alone!” Then, a few pages later, “Diego, I am no longer alone!” Some of their friends believe that camaraderie, rather than sexuality, bound the Riveras together. She was too much his mother, daughter, sister and general protector to be primarily his lover, they say: “It would have been incestuous.” Yet her journal displays a steamy passion for him:

Diego. Nothing is comparable to your hands and nothing is equal to the gold-green of your eyes. My body fills itself with you for days and days. You are the mirror of the night. The violent light of lightning. The dampness of the earth. Your armpit is my refuge. My fingertips touch your blood. All my joy is to feel your life shoot forth from your fountain-flower which mine keeps in order to fill all the paths of my nerves which belong to you.

Perhaps the “paths” of Kahlo’s nerves are the veins, vines and roots (and sometimes the loops of silk ribbon) that appear in her self-portraits.

The diary also contains a kind of love chant. Diego was, she said, the beginning, the constructor, her child, boyfriend, lover, husband, friend, mother, father, son, herself and the universe. Another entry declares her desire to give birth to Diego: “At every moment he is my child, my child born every moment, diary, from myself.” Her niece, Isolda Kahlo, is convinced that the relationship between them was primarily that of mother and son. “Women,” said Kahlo, “would always like to have him in their arms like a new-born baby.”

Indeed, in Portrait of Diego , c. 1949, he is depicted as a large, pale, naked baby. Lying in Kahlo’s lap, he is given a position that is partly fetal and partly that of Christ in a Pietà . A huge third eye is opened in his forehead, symbol, perhaps, of the artist’s foredestined visual acuity. He holds a maguey plant (a cactus that gives pulque and grows a phallic flower) that could be Kahlo’s sexual metaphor for Rivera, “fountain-flower.” Kahlo paints herself as a combination of enthroned Madonna and lactating earth mother. She is supported by an earth goddess in the form of a pre-Columbian idol whose body becomes a mountain on which a tree and cacti grow. This mountain is, in turn, embraced by a larger divinity whose pre-Columbian features are only partly concretized out of the surrounding sky. Kahlo and Rivera are thus doubly encompassed by their Aztec progenitors, once on the earthbound, and once on the celestial level. Portrait of Diego is a kind of fantastic Assumption of the Virgin in which Mother and Son are rejoined in a pre-Columbian heaven that is split into day and night by the simultaneous presence of the sun and the moon.

Kahlo recorded all aspects of her marriage in paint. One of the more sanguine moments is reflected in Diego and Frida , 1931. In a stripped-down space, “Panzas” or “fatbelly,” as she called him, stands as solidly as a triumphal arch, palette and brushes in hand, and head turned slightly away. Beside him, Kahlo looks tiny, delicate and decidedly subordinate; she presents herself not as a painter, but as an adoring wife, her head inclined toward her husband. Quite different is Rivera’s depiction of himself and Kahlo in his Hotel del Prado mural (1947–48). Here he is a short fat boy. She is a woman a head taller than himself, and her hand is placed on his shoulder in a gesture of motherly possession.

Although he often ignored it, Kahlo’s love was a necessity to Rivera. He had great respect for her as an artist and as an intelligence; he valued her criticisms of his painting highly. In his autobiography, he called her “the most important fact in my life.” The notes from Rivera to Kahlo that are exhibited in the Frida Kahlo Museum reveal a tender solicitousness on the part of a man better known for formidable thoughtlessness than for delicacy of sentiment. Nevertheless, he drew women to him as a magnet attracts iron. His doctor, noting this, conveniently pronounced him unfit for fidelity. Rivera happily followed the prescription.

In 1939, Rivera divorced Kahlo, baldly explaining to a reporter that though he was indeed divorcing his third wife, “There is no change in the magnificent relations between us. We are doing it in order to improve Frida’s legal position . . . purely a matter of legal convenience in the spirit of modern times.”

Kahlo took the divorce harder. Her despair informs The Two Fridas , 1939, her first large canvas and one of her most fascinating works. Seated in front of a typically El Greco sky, a recurring backdrop in her self-portraits, one Frida wears a white Victorian dress, the other a Tehuana skirt and blouse, referring to Kahlo’s dual heritage, European and Mexican Indian. Both women’s hearts are exposed—an unashamedly literalistic device to show that the painting deals with the heart’s sufferings. The Tehuana Frida sits with her legs apart like a man. Near her sexual organs she holds aminiature portrait of Rivera as a child. An oval-shaped photograph framed in red, the portrait seems to stand for either a lost embryo or a lost lover.

A vein that begins in the red frame winds around the Tehuana Frida’s arm, continues through her heart and links her to the Victorian Frida. Finally the vein ends on this Frida’s white lap where she shuts off its flow of blood with a pair of surgical pincers. A note to Rivera in Kahlo’s journal says, “. . . my blood is the miracle that travels in the veins of the air from my heart to yours.” In anger at the divorce, she cuts this blood off. But it continues to drip, and the stains on her lap echo the red flowers embroidered on her white skirt, as well as call to mind hemorrhages from Kahlo’s miscarriages. Typical of Kahlo’s sardonic version of the pathetic fallacy is the way some of the small embroidered flowers on her shirt’s ruffle are slyly transformed into splotches of blood. Kahlo herself told a friend that The Two Fridas expressed “the duality of her personality.” To the American art historian McKimley Helm she explained more, and he wrote: “One of them is the Frida that Diego had loved.” The second Frida, the one in the white dress, is the “woman Diego no longer loves.” 5 Both, however, are profiled by the turbulent sky that amplifies their horrific inner commotion, while heightening the disturbing paralysis of pose and demeanor.

After a year of mutual unhappiness, Rivera asked Kahlo to come to California where he believed that her bone problems might be better diagnosed. On December 8, 1940, they were remarried. Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair , 1940, shows that life with Rivera still had its familiar afflictions. Her hair cropped short as a man’s, Kahlo sits in a Mexican chair wearing a man’s suit so huge that it must be Rivera’s. The ground is covered with strands of black hair that seem as disturbingly animate as the roots and veins depicted in other self-portraits. Kahlo stares defiantly, as if to warn the spectator that she might pursue destruction further. She holds the scissors on her lap near a lock of shorn hair that hangs between her legs. Perhaps significantly, the scissors are in the same position as the surgical pincers in The Two Fridas . In both pictures, one senses that some macabre and painful act has been performed—a violent rejection of femininity or a desire to excise the part of the self that possesses the capacity to love. (Significantly, Rivera’s autobiography notes that Kahlo agreed to remarry him on the condition that they would not have sexual intercourse.)

At the top of the canvas the words and notes of a popular song illustrate Kahlo’s personal history: “You see, if I loved you it was for your hair, now that you are hairless I don’t love you any more.” A friend recalls that Rivera loved Kahlo’s long hair, and she herself made a ritual of dressing her hair with flowers, ribbons and jewels. But when she discovered Rivera with another woman in California, she warned him that if he left her she would cut off her hair. He did, and she did. In her painting, Kahlo makes a rueful jest of her feckless retaliation: cutting off a sign of femininity becomes nothing more than the illustration for a popular song.

Perhaps the greatest trauma in Kahlo’s marriage to Rivera was her inability to bear his child. Like so many of her experiences, this, too, became an obsessive theme in her art. In Detroit in 1932, she suffered a dangerous miscarriage accompanied by hemorrhage. Desperately depressed, she recorded the experience in paint. Henry Ford Hospital , 1932, shows a diminutive Frida lying naked and hemorrhaging on a huge metal hospital bed. The patient’s feeling of isolation and helplessness is dramatized by the bed’s enlargement and by the vast emptiness of the plain on which it floats. On the horizon can be seen the chimneys and tanks of industrial Detroit which Rivera was busy glorifying in his murals. Kahlo holds six red ribbons suggesting blood vessels or umbilical cords, from the ends of which float strange objects that symbolize her failure to become a mother. Maternal failure recurs in Without Hope , 1945. Here a cornucopia of fleshy horror is screamed, like a speech symbol in a pre-Columbian manuscript, onto a wooden scaffolding that recalls both Christ’s cross and Kahlo’s specially constructed easel. The miscarried child thus becomes her sacrifice, placed upon the cross-easel between a pale moon and a blood red sun. Cellular organisms dot the sheets like eggs waiting to be fertilized, echoing the sun and moon in an image of cosmic and microscopic unity. 6

Such hallucinatory and self-mortifying images are, of course, familiar in Surrealist iconography. Surrealistic too, are the horror, humor and surprise in Kahlo’s work; her use of hybrid figures—part human, part animal, part plant or part inanimate matter—and her predilection for immeasurable empty spaces. It is little wonder, then, that Frida Kahlo was welcomed into Surrealist circles both in New York, where Julien Levy gave her a show in his Surrealist-oriented gallery and Peggy Guggenheim included her in two exhibitions of women’s art in her gallery, Art of This Century, and in Paris, where in 1939 André Breton organized a Kahlo exhibition.

Breton, who proclaimed Mexico to be a Surrealist country when he visited the Riveras in 1938, made much of Kahlo’s independently invented Surrealism. In a 1938 essay on Frida Kahlo, he wrote:

My surprise and joy were unbounded when I discovered, on my arrival in Mexico, that her work has blossomed forth in her latest paintings into pure Surreality, despite the fact that it had been conceived without any prior knowledge whatsoever of the ideas motivating the activities of my friends and myself.

But Breton was not telling the whole truth. He knew that those “latest paintings” had been painted after Kahlo took a trip to Paris in 1937 and after her acquaintance with Surrealists and Surrealist ideas. Indeed, Kahlo’s paintings after her 1937 contact with Surrealism do reach new levels of sophistication both in style and content. A comparison between The Bus , 1929, or Henry Ford Hospital and later works like What the Water Gave Me , 1938, or The Broken Column shows that what began as a delight in the fantastical incongruities and simplicities of naive art later developed into a more complex involvement with enigma and psychological innuendo.

Strictly speaking, though, Kahlo was not a Surrealist, but a Surrealist discovery. Her fantasy is a product of her temperament, life and culture. Surrealism may have inspired her to tap the naive fantasy and style so typical of much Mexican art. She wanted to set down images so painfully personal that a less primitivizing style could make them unbearable to the viewer. Her style distances us from the agonistic content without losing vividness. At the same time, it affirms her commitment to her ethnic past.

Kahlo’s painting differs from that of the Surrealists in several regards. It is not the rarified product of a disillusioned European culture, nor is there anything contrived or far-fetched about her fantasy. Her imagery is always concrete, and her symbolism relatively simple—so much so, in fact, that Mexicans call her a realist. Though Kahlo’s paintings served a private function, they were meant to be accessible in their meaning. She explores the magic and the enigma of immediate experience and real sensations rather than seeking some higher reality beyond the concrete objects, people and sensuous stimuli of everyday life.

If the European Surrealists invented images of threatened sexuality, Kahlo made images of her own ruined reproductive system. Eroticism ran more in her veins than in her head—for her, sex was less Freudian mystification than a fact of life. Furthermore, she depicted with a frankness that verged on ferocity the first-hand drama of physical suffering. To do that, she did not need the tutoring of de Sade. This bluntness contrasts in the strongest fashion with Surrealist indirection and ellipses, one reason (others being that she was Mexican and a woman) that may account for her undeserved neglect in this country.

Kahlo’s humor, too, differs from the sophisticated and disenchanted urge to paradox of European Surrealism. “Surrealism,” said Kahlo parodying Lautreamont’s famous phrase, “is the magical surprise of finding a lion inside a wardrobe, where you were ‘sure’ of finding shirts.” Less complex and ironic, more fatalistic and earthily sardonic than Surrealist humor, Kahlo jests at death and pain. She found strength in her sense of the absurd. “ La vida es un gran relajo ” (Life is a big mess), she said. By contrast, Surrealist humor takes itself deadly seriously. In her last years, Kahlo resented Breton’s conscription of herself into the legions of Surrealism. “They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn’t.” she said. “I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.” But in Mexico, Breton’s ideal is often realized: dreams and reality are one.

Those who saw Kahlo as an ardent Communist made the same kind of mistake. It is undeniable that she always had an interest in Communist politics. That interest coincided with Rivera’s, and he liked to stress his wife’s partisanship by painting her as a Communist heroine in his murals. In 1937, Rivera arranged for Leon Trotsky and his wife to be given asylum. Kahlo met them at the Mexican port of Tampico and she lent them a house adjacent to her own in Coyoacán. She celebrated the consequent friendship with a full-length Self-Portrait dedicated “to Leon Trotsky, with all love,” in which she stands like a prima donna between two curtains, as charmingly poised as the creole women in portraits from the Colonial period.

But the depth or longevity of her political engagement is uncertain. She once brushed off the flamboyant Stalinism of her later years by saying “that’s for Diego.” Rivera had been expelled from the party in 1929, and Kahlo might have been playing a role in order to help him gain readmission. With few exceptions, her paintings from the 1930s and ’40s have little direct connection with her political views. Obliquely, however, the incorporation of Mexican motifs and a primitivizing style represented a rejection of bourgeois values. Only at the end of her life, when she came to doubt the value of her introspective images, did politics come to the forefront in her art. Wishing to discover “what my paintings may do to serve,” she painted at least three tributes to Joseph Stalin. The last one, unfinished, stands on the easel in her house to this day.

Kahlo’s main source remained Mexican Colonial and popular art, and her impulse was to stress the Mexican elements in her experience—not only in her painting, but in her behavior, appearance and home as well. Frida was far from alone in this emphatic “Mexicanismo.” There was, after the revolution of 1910, a general urge among artists and intellectuals to establish a connection with indigenous culture. It showed up in the muralist movement, begun in the 1920s, and it continued in the 1930s even in the European-oriented easel paintings of artists like Tamayo, Augustin Lazo and Carlos Merida; they blended a native flavor with imported ideas that ranged from Cubism, Dada and Surrealism to German Magic Realism and Picasso’s Neoclassicism. But nationalistic fervor made many other Mexican artists adamant that creating a truly noncolonialized Mexican art meant rejecting all foreign influences. 7

These artists borrowed the bright colors, naive drawing and easily legible subject matter from popular art, aiming to make a simpler, more direct and accessible art, one free from the elitist values associated with European style. Subjects, too, were picked for their native content. The focus was on contemporary Indian life and the Aztec past with the Indian playing the role of innocent or martyr. These artists admired such popular art forms as “retablos” (ex votos), caricature (especially Posada’s sensational horror scenes, skeleton prints and song illustrations), 8 and “pulqueria” murals 9 (naive and often humorous decorations for bars selling pulque). Even the untutored work produced in open-air art schools of the postrevolutionary period became a source for sophisticated artists. While Kahlo shared these enthusiasms with her Mexican contemporaries—and there are other parallels as well between her work and that of artists like Antonio Ruis, Roberto Montenegro, Maria Izquierdo and Abraham Angel—her art, nonetheless, stands somewhat apart from theirs.

Most evocative of Kahlo’s search for an essential Mexican identity is My Nurse and I , 1937. Kahlo depicts herself with the body of a baby and the head of a woman suckling in her dark Indian nurse’s arms. A symbol of Mexico’s Indian heritage, the nurse also embodies the nurturing power of the Mexican earth, plants and sky. The ducts and glands of her left breast are shown as plants, and their lactation is echoed in the engorged veins of a huge tropical leaf and in milky raindrops in the sky. The fact that it is an adult head that suckles suggests that as a painter Kahlo continues to derive nourishment from her Indian and earthy roots. The nurse’s face is a fierce Aztec mask, but, like Kahlo, she has loose black hair and eyebrows that meet, indicating that Kahlo identifies the nurse as her ancestor or as another aspect of herself.

The nurse’s stone mask also hints at the ritual savagery of the Mexican past, a past which, incarnated by the nurse, both feeds, possesses and perhaps even threatens Frida Kahlo. Such masks were associated with ceremonies in which women, children and captives were sacrificed to propitiate the Aztec gods. As an embodiment of the artist’s Aztec ancestry, the nurse at once protects Kahlo and offers her as a sacrificial victim. The influence of Aztec culture on Kahlo cannot be pinpointed, but the Riveras had a large collection of pre-Columbian art and these works, together with the myths and attitudes that they embody, surely affected her thinking. Aztec sun worship and the idea that the sun must be fed human blood to sustain its life-giving powers seem to be sources of meaning in several Kahlo paintings, most particularly, those dealing with her failure to bear children. Very likely, her concept of cosmic, embryological, earth and plant forces working in unity—a concept spurred by her childlessness and invalidism—was connected with her knowledge of pre-Columbian civilization. The Aztecs’ sense of magic and ritual permeated her art; so did their stress on fertility, blood, violence and their cyclical view of time.

Perhaps the strongest influence on Kahlo was the native art form depicting near disasters in “retablos.” 10 The Riveras collected many of these small paintings on tin. In most retables, the Virgin or a saint is shown saving a sick, wounded or otherwise endangered person. A dedicatory inscription would usually read something like: “With great love and gratitude, I dedicate this present to Saint Xavier for having saved Ydigoras from drowning.” What mattered to the retable artists was the theatrical presentation of a calamity and the resplendent apparition of the intervening Virgin or saint. To enhance the drama, space is reduced to a rudimentary stage, and scale jumps are irrational. Figures and a few objects necessary to the story are painstakingly rendered in minute, if clumsy detail. All these are characteristics which Kahlo adopted in her paintings.

No doubt she admired the combination of strong feeling and naive style together with the clear-cut function of the image as an expression of gratitude and faith. As in her own paintings, the retables report the facts of physical distress in unsqueamish detail, but their naive style and reportorial directness prevent these scenes from indulging in the feverish agonism relished, say, in Mexican religious art. The tale is told not to get pity but to gain strength, and this is clearly the case in Frida Kahlo’s paintings too. Like retables, a number of Kahlo’s paintings are partly acts of gratitude, serving to confirm the wellbeing of a person who has temporarily escaped danger.

Even though Kahlo rejected religion at the age of 13, she could hardly forget her Catholic upbringing or remain oblivious to her religion-pervaded culture. The Church was too strong; in Mexican culture in general, pagan Indian ritual is overlaid, but not obliterated, by Catholic lore. Christian imagery underlies much of Kahlo’s imagery, as indeed it does that of Diego Rivera and many other Mexican muralists. My Nurse and 1 , for example, has been likened to a Pietà , and it also brings to mind images of the Madonna and child where the Virgin is pained by foreknowledge of Christ’s death. Moreover, as we have seen, the theatrically bloody imagery of Mexican religious art was an important source for Kahlo’s wounded images of herself.

So was the Mexican cult of death seen in pre-Columbian, Catholic and popular art. Kahlo kept reminders of it around her house in the form of clay and papier mâché skeletons, a Colonial painting of a dead child surrounded by flowers placed at the head of her bed, 11 or a real fetus preserved in a jar as a memento of her miscarriages. She frequently painted herself with a skeleton as her companion. For her, death was not something that would come at the distant end of life, but was lurking at every moment within her frail body. “We look for calm or ‘peace’,” she wrote, “because we anticipate death, since we die every moment.” Her response was typically Mexican: she courted and mocked death as if to assuage its malignant power.

At the time of her April 1953 opening, Kahlo described her condition to a journalist: “I am not sick,I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.” That was not to be for long. The slow decay of her skeletal frame had not been halted. Four months after her exhibition her doctors informed Kahlo that she had gangrene in a leg and that it would inevitably spread. “Then amputate now,” she replied. A journal entry for February 11, 1954, reads:

They amputated my leg six months ago. They have given me centuries of torture and at times I almost lost my mind. I continue to feel like killing myself. Diego is the one that holds me back because of my vanity of believing that he might miss me. He told me so and I believe him. But never in my life have I suffered more. I will wait a little while . . .

Five months later, on the morning of July 13, 1954, her nurse found that Frida Kahlo had died in her sleep. The press reported that she had died from lung embolism. Rivera was informed of her death by the chauffeur: “ Senor, murió la nina Frida .”

Frida Kahlo lay in state in the hall of the Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City. A scandal ensued when some of Rivera’s comrades covered her body with a red flag even though Rivera had promised not to let politics enter into this occasion. (Two months later he was readmitted to the Communist Party.) Then she was cremated. Her ashes are now in a pre-Columbian jar that stands, unmarked, outside her bedroom in the Frida Kahlo Museum in Coyoacán.

The house itself serves as the artist’s tombstone. Rivera gave the home in which Kahlo was born and died, complete with furniture, Mexican objects and art, to the Mexican people in 1955. His aim, a friend said, was to perpetuate the memory of “the exceptional creature who accompanied him during 25 years of his life.” Kahlo’s relics displayed in the museum—her costumes, jewelry, toys, letters, diary, books, art materials and art collection—provide a vivid picture of both the ambience in which she lived and worked and her personality. On the walls are some 50 of her paintings and drawings. Her wheelchair is placed before her easel. All around are details that could have come from her paintings: a plaster cast decorated with fantastic creatures and a classical column, papier mâché skeletons and “Judases” handing here and there. Her bedroom is dominated by her four-poster bed; it is covered with her embroidered bedspread and equipped with a mirror fixed to the underside of the canopy so that she could paint self-portraits while bedridden. The museum thus serves to convince us of the specificity and realism of Kahlo’s fantastic imagery. Because she was an invalid, the house in Coyoacán was her world. The paintings hanging in her house were obviously an expansion of that world; they powerfully evoke and commemorate her remarkable life within it.

Hayden Herrera, a scholar of 20th-century art, has contributed to Arttorum and other journals.

—————————

1. Gloria Orenstein published “Frida Kahlo: Painting for Miracles” in The Feminist Art Journal , Fall, 1973, pp. 7–9, and Joyce Kozloff spoke about Kahlo’s work at a meeting of the College Art Association in January 1975.

2. Kahlo painted a number of still-lifes based on 19th-century paintings of fruit and vegetables made to decorate Mexican kitchens. Because the tropical fruits and flowers in her still lifes tend to look animate—often resembling wombs, genitalia, bleeding hearts or suns with faces—Kahlo once wrote on one painting “ Naturaleza bien muerta ” (very dead still-life).

3. Diego Rivera, who had elaborate health problems of his own, came to share his wife’s interest in medicine. Some of the more embryological themes in his murals suggest that he may even have been influenced by her imagery.

4. Kahlo had some experience with art before her accident. In 1925, she took lessons in engraving over a period of four months with Fernando Fernandez who had a workshop near her school. On display in the Frida Kahlo Museum are several skilled ink drawings copied from engravings by Anders Zorn together with a letter from Fernandez commenting on Kahlo’s talent.

5. An entry in Kahlo’s journal published in Excelsior , July 13, 1967, gives another insight into The Two Fridas : “Origin of the two Fridas. I must have been six years old when I experienced intensely an imaginary friendship with a little girl.” She goes on to tell how she drew a door on a glass window in her bedroom and went out through this door to meet an imaginary friend. The girl was gay and agile, Kahlo remembered, and she “danced as if she had no weight. I followed all her movements and while she danced I told her my secret problems . . . 34 years have passed since I had that magic friendship and every time I remember it it becomes larger and more alive inside my world.”

6. Possibly the simultaneous presence of the sun and the moon in many of Kahlo’s paintings relates to the Aztec notion of the eternal war between light and dark. The Aztec idea that the sun must be fed human blood through the sacrifice of women, children and captives might be another source of meaning in Without Hope and other paintings. Also, the sun and moon often flank the cross in crucifixion scenes by Mexican Indian artists of the Colonial period.

7. See for example Rivera’s fulminations against “false artists” who imitate European modes thus perpetuating the semi-Colonial condition of Mexican culture in his “Frida Kahlo y el Arte Mexicano,” which appeared in Seminario de Cultura Mexicano , Boletin , No. 2, October 1943, pp. 89–101. Frida Kahlo’s habit of wearing Mexican costumes was part of this syndrome. In an article in Time , May 3, 1948, Rivera expounds: “The classic Mexican dress has been created by people for people. The Mexican women who do not wear it do not belong to the people, but are mentally and emotionally dependent on a foreign class to which they wish to belong, i.e. the great American and French bureaucracy.” Ironically, Kahlo’s “radical chic” so impressed Schiaparelli that he designed a “robe Mme. Rivera” for fashionable Parisians.

8. Kahlo learned from all three types of Posada print. There is a strong note of caricature in several of her paintings. A Few Small Nips , which shows a bloodied nude on a bed before her murderer was, in fact, based, like many of Posada’s prints, on a sensational news event. Kahlo read in the newspaper about a drunk who had murdered his girlfriend by inflicting over a hundred wounds. Brought before the law, he innocently protested, “But I only gave her a few small nips!” The main source for the skeleton protagonists in Kahlo’s paintings was Posada’s “ calaveras ,” or prints in which skeletons act like living people in order to mock human foibles and mortality. In addition, Posada’s illustrations for popular songs may have been a source for Kahlo’s Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair .

9. Kahlo painted at least two “pulqueria” murals with her students in the 1950s, when she taught at the Education Ministry’s School of Plastic Art, “La Esmeralda,” and later, when she was no longer well enough to go to the school, when she gave lessons at home.

10. Kahlo did once paint a real retable depicting the collision of a street car and a bus with a bloodied girl sprawled on the street nearby. Her niece, who owns this work, says that it was made as a joke when Kahlo discovered an old retable illustrating an accident identical to her own. Kahlo repainted parts of it and added this inscription: “The couple Guillermo Kahlo and Matilde Calderon de Kahlo give thanks to the Virgin of Sorrows for having saved their daughter Frida from the accident that happened in 1925 on the corner of Cautemoz in and the Tlalpan highway.”

11. Similarly, Kahlo’s The Deceased Dimas , 1937, shows the traditional lying in state of a Mexican child. A crown on his head, blood trickling from his nose, Dimas lies “surrounded by flowers on a straw mat. No doubt Kahlo’s choice of this subject relates to her own sorrow about her lost children.

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Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Bed (detail) , 1937. Oil on metal; 19.6 x 15.6 x 1.6 in. (40 x 30 cm). The Vergel Foundation and MondoMostre in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL). © 2020 Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Gerardo Suter

Quotes from Frida Kahlo

Laura Almeida is a curatorial fellow in the modern and contemporary department at the Denver Art Museum. Laura joined the DAM in 2019. She loves working at the museum and agrees with the poet and artist Ferreira Gullar who said: “Art exists because life is not enough.”

Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) was very open about her life and ideas. She kept an illustrated journal where she documented through text and drawings the last 10 years of her life (1944–1954). Below are some quotes from her diary, as well as from letters and other writings.

Quotes about painting

Kahlo developed a unique portraiture style based in part on the Spanish ex voto tradition of religious painting.

• "I don’t really know if my paintings are surreal or not, but I do know that they represent the frankest expression of myself."
• "Painting has made my life full. Painting has replaced everything. I don’t think there’s anything better than work."
• "I paint flowers so they will not die."

I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.

Quotes about life

Frida Kahlo grew up in the Coyoacán neighborhood of Mexico City. She had a mixed heritage: her father was German and her mother was Spanish and Indigenous Tehuana from Oaxaca, Mexico. Kahlo consciously constructed a mestiza persona, pairing Spanish colonial jewelry with traditional huipil blouses or Chanel haute couture with her Indigenous jade necklace. She created a blended identity, simultaneously appropriating and reclaiming her cultures

• “Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.”
• “Everything can have beauty, even the worst horror.”
• “There is nothing more precious than laughter–it is strength to laugh and lose oneself, to be light.”
• “…what would I do without the absurd and the ephemeral?”

Fall in love with yourself, with life and then with whoever you want.

Quotes about Diego

Kahlo became romantically involved with her future husband, Diego Rivera, in 1927 while she was still an art student.

• “Diego: Nothing compares to your hands. Nothing like the green-gold of your eyes. My body is filled with you for days and days, you are the mirror of the night, the violent flash of lighting. The dampness of the earth. The hollow of your armpits is my shelter. My fingertips touch your blood. All my joy is to feel life spring from your flower-fountain that mine keeps to fill all the paths of my nerves which are yours.”
• “My Diego: Mirror of the night. Your eyes green swords inside my flesh. Waves between our hands. All of you in a space full of sounds—in the shade and in the light. You were called AUXOCHROME the one who captures color. I CHROMOPHORE—the one who gives color. You are all the combinations of numbers. Life. My wish is to understand lines form shades movement. You fulfill and I receive. Your word travels the entirety of space and reaches my cells which are my stars then goes to yours which are my light.”
• “Your presence floats for a moment or two as if wrapping my whole being in an anxious wait for the morning. I notice that I’m with you. At that instant still full of sensations, my hands are sunk in oranges, and my body feels surrounded by your arms.”
• “Why do I call him my Diego? He never was or will be mine. He belongs to himself.”

The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation and MondoMostre in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL). © 2020 Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Gerardo Suter

Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?

Quotes about her struggles

Frida Kahlo was a revolutionary artist and feminist. Yet it was through physical and emotional adversity that her strength grew. She lived with the lingering effects of childhood polio and in 1925 narrowly escaped death in a horrific bus accident that shattered her pelvis and spine. During her long convalescence, art became a path for survival and self-expression.

• “I am not sick. I am broken. But, I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.”
• "I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I'm here, and I’m just as strange as you."
• “At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.”
• “I’ve been sick for a year now. Seven operations on my spinal column. Doctor Farill saved me. He brought me back the joy of life. I am still in the wheelchair, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to walk again soon. I have a plaster corset even though it is a frightful nuisance, it helps my spine. I don’t feel any pain. Only this…bloody tiredness, and naturally, quite often, despair.”

Quotes about revolution

• “Revolution is the harmony of form and color and everything exists, and moves, under only one law = life. Nobody is separate from anybody else – nobody fights for [themselves]. Everything is all and one, Anguish and pain – pleasure and death are no more than a process of existence. The revolutionary struggle in this process is a doorway open to intelligence.”
• “Rebellion against everything that chains you.”
• “Revolution transform[s] the world into a classless one so that we can attain a better rhythm for the oppressed classes.”
• “Always revolutionary. Never dead, never useless.”

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The unseen masterpieces of Frida Kahlo

Lost or little-known works by the Mexican artist provide fresh insights on her life and work. Holly Williams explores the rarely seen art included in a new book of the complete paintings.

You know Frida Kahlo – of course you do. She is the most famous female artist of all time, and her image is instantly recognisable, and unavoidable. Kahlo can be found everywhere, on T-shirts and notebooks and mugs. While writing this piece, I spotted a selection of cutesy cartoon Kahlo merchandise in the window of a shop, maybe three minutes' walk from my home. I bet many readers are similarly in striking distance of some representation of her, with her monobrow and traditional Mexican clothing, her flowery headbands and red lipstick.

More like this:

-          Unlocking the hidden life of Frida Kahlo

-          Portrait of a complex marriage

-          Paintings of 'rage, rebellion and pain'

Partly, this is because her own image was a major subject for Kahlo – around a third of her works were self-portraits. Although she died in 1954, her work still reads as bracingly fresh: her self-portraits speak volumes about identity, of the need to craft your own image and tell your own story. She paints herself looking out at the viewer: direct, fierce, challenging.

All of which means Kahlo can fit snugly into certain contemporary, feminist narratives – the strong independent woman, using herself as her subject, and unflinchingly exploring the complicated, messy, painful aspects of being female. Her paintings intensely represent dramatic elements of a dramatic life: a miscarriage, and being unable to have children; bodily pain (she was in a horrific crash at 18, and suffered physically all her life); great love (she had a tempestuous relationship with the Mexican artist Diego Rivera, as well as many other lovers, male and female, including Leon Trotsky), and great jealousy (Rivera cheated on her repeatedly, including with her own sister).

But thats not all they show – her art is not always just about her life, although you could be forgiven for assuming it was. Books are written about her trauma, her love life; she's been the subject of a Hollywood movie starring Salma Hayek. Kahlo has become a bankable blockbuster topic, guaranteed to get visitors through the door of galleries, even if what they see is often more about the woman than her art.

But what about her work? For some art historians, the relentless focus on the person rather than the output has become tiresome, which is why a new, monumental book – Frida Kahlo: The Complete Paintings – has just been published by Taschen, offering for the first time a survey of her entire oeuvre. Mexican art historian Luis-Martín Lozano, working with Andrea Kettenmann and Marina Vázquez Ramos, provides notes on every single Kahlo work we have images of – 152 in total, including many lost works we only know from photographs.

Speaking to Lozano on a video call from Mexico City, I ask if a comprehensive survey of her work is overdue, despite there being so many shows about her all over the world?

"As an art historian, my main interest in Kahlo has been in her work as an artist. If this had been the main concern of most projects in recent decades, maybe I would say this book has no reason to be. But the truth is, it hasn't," he says. "Most people at exhibitions, they're interested in her personality – who she is, how she dressed, who does she go to bed with, her lovers, her story."

Because of this, exhibitions and their catalogues have often focused on that story, and tend to "repeat the same paintings, and the same ideas about the same paintings. They leave aside a whole bunch of works," says Lozano. Books also re-tread the same ground: "You repeat the same things, and it will sell – because everything about Kahlo sells. It's unfortunate to say, but she's become a merchandise. But this explains why [exhibitions and books] don't go beyond this – because they don't need to."

The result is that certain mistakes get made – paintings mis-titled, mis-dated, or the same poor-quality, off-colour photographs reproduced. But it also means that ideas about what her works mean get repeated ad infinitum. "The interpretation level becomes contaminated," suggests Lozano. "All they say about the paintings, over and over, is 'oh it's because she loved Rivera', 'because she couldn't have a kid', 'because she's in the hospital'. In some cases, it is true – but there's so much more to it than that."

The number of paintings – 152 – is not an enormous body of work for a major artist. And yet, astonishingly, some of these havenever been written about before: "never, not a single sentence!" laughs Lozano. "It's kind of a mess, in terms of art history."

Offering a comprehensive survey of her work means bringing together lost or little-known works, including those that have come to light in auctions in the past decade or so, and others that are rarely loaned by private collectors and so have remained obscure. Lozano hopes to open up our understanding of Kahlo. "First of all – who was she as an artist? What did she think of her own work? What did she want to achieve as an artist? And what do these paintings mean by themselves?"

This means looking again at early works, which might not be the sort of thing we associate with Kahlo – but reveal how much she was inspired by her father, Guillermo, a professional photographer and an amateur painter of floral still lifes. Pieces such as the little-known Still Life (with Roses) from 1925, which has not been exhibited since 1953, are notably similar in style to his.

Kahlo continued to paint astonishing, vibrant still lifes her whole career – although they are less well-known to the general public than her self-portraits, less collectable, and less studied. An understanding of their importance to her has been strengthened since Lozano and co discovered documents revealing Kahlo's life-long interest in the symbolic meaning of plants. She learnt this from her father, and discussed it in letters with her half-sister Margarita (her father's child from an earlier marriage), who became a nun.

The missing links

Kahlo and Margarita's letters "talk about the symbolic meaning of flowers and fruits and the garden of Eden, that our body is like a flower we have to take care of because it was ripped off from paradise," says Lozano. "This is amazing, and proves why this topic of still lifes and flowers had such meaning to her."

He offers a new interpretation of a painting from 1938, called Tunas, which depicts three prickly pears in different stages of ripening – from green and unripe to a vibrant, juicy, blood-red – as representing Kahlo's own understanding of her maturation as an artist and person, but as also potentially having religious symbolism (the bloody flesh evoking sacrifice).

The Complete Paintings book also takes pains to reveal the depths of Kahlo's intellectual engagement with art-world developments – countering the notion that she was merely influenced by meeting Rivera in 1928, or that her work is some self-taught, instinctive howl of womanly pain. Her paintings reveal Kahlo's research into and experiments in art movements, from the youthful Mexican take on Modernism, Stridentism, to Cubism and later Surrealism.

"Frida Kahlo's paintings were not only the result of her personal issues, but she looked around at who was painting, what were the trends, the discussions," says Lozano. He points to her first attempts at avant-garde paintings – 1927's Pancho Villa and Adelita, and the lost work If Adelita, both of which use sharp, Modernist lines and angles – as proof that "she was looking at trends in Mexican art even before she met Rivera".

You can also see her interest in Renaissance Old Masters, which she discovered prints of in her father's library, in early work: it's suggested her 1928 painting, Two Women (Portrait of Salvadora and Herminia), depicting two maids against a lush, leafy background, was inspired by Renaissance portraiture traditions, as seen in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. Bought in the year it was painted, the location of this work remained unknown until it was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2015.

Given she only made around 152 paintings, a surprising number are lost. But then, Kahlo wasn't so successful in her lifetime – she didn't have so many shows, or sell that many works through galleries and dealers. Instead, many of her paintings were sold or given away directly to artists, friends and family, as well as movie stars and other glittering admirers, often living abroad. That means less of a paper trail, making it harder to track down works.

In honesty, looking at black-and-white pictures of lost portraits probably isn't going to prove revelatory to anyone beyond the most hard-core scholars – although there are some astonishing paintings still missing. One lost 1938 image, Girl with Death Mask II, depicts a little girl in a skull mask in an empty landscape; it chills, and we know Kahlo discussed this painting in relation to her sorrow at being unable to conceive. Check your attics, too, for Kahlo's painting of a horrific plane crash – which we only have a photograph of now – which she's known to have made in a period of great personal turmoil in the years after discovering her sister's affair with Rivera in 1935.

Like another of her very well-known paintings, Passionately in Love or A Few Small Nips, depicting a woman murdered by her husband, The Airplane Crash was based very closely on a real-life news report; Lozano's team have unearthed both original articles in their research. While Kahlo may have been drawn to these traumatic events because she was suffering pain in her own life, her degree of almost documentary precision in external news stories here should not be overlooked.

Kahlo was an avowed Communist, and politically engaged all her life, but it is in less well-known works from the final years of her life where you see this most explicitly emerge. At this time, she suffered a great deal of pain, and underwent many operations, eventually including amputation below the knee. But Kahlo continued painting till 1953, with difficulty but also with renewed purpose. Her biographer Raquel Tibol documented her saying: "I am very concerned about my painting.

More than anything, to change it, to make it into something useful, because up until now all I have painted is faithful portraits of my own self, but that's so far removed from what my painting could be doing to serve the [Communist] Party. I must fight with all my strength so that the small amount of good I am able to do with my health in the way it is will be directed toward helping the Revolution. That's the only real reason for living."

This resulted in works like 1952's Congress of the Peoples for Peace (which has not been exhibited since 1953), showing a dove in broad fruit tree – and two mushroom clouds, representing Kahlo's nightmares about nuclear warfare. She became an active member of many peace groups – collecting signatures from Mexican artists in support of a World Peace Council, helping form the Mexican Committee of Partisans for Peace, and making this painting for Rivera to take to the Congress of the Peoples for Peace in Vienna in 1952.

Doves feature in several of her late still lifes – as do an increasing number of Mexican flags or colour schemes (using watermelons to reflect the green, white and red of the flag), suggesting Kahlo's intention was that her work should show her nationalism and Communism. More uncomfortably, her final paintings include loving depictions of Stalin, as her politics became more militant.

Perhaps her most moving late painting, however, is a self-portrait: Frida in Flames (Self-portrait Inside a Sunflower). It's harrowing, painted in thick, colourful impasto; shortly before her death, Kahlo slashed at it with a knife, scraping away the paint, frustrated at her inability to make work or perhaps in an acknowledgment that her end was nearing. Tibol, who was witness to this decisive, destructive act, called it "a ritual of self-sacrifice". "It's a tremendous image," says Lozano.

"It's very interesting in terms of aesthetics – when your body is not working anymore, when your brain is not enough to portray what you want to paint, the only source she's left with is to deconstruct the image. This is a very contemporary, conceptual position about art: that the painting exists not only in its craft, but also what I think the painting stands for."

We are left with a painting that is imperfect, certainly a world away from the fine, smooth surfaces and attention to detail of Kahlo's more famous self-portraits – but it nonetheless is an astonishingly powerful work that deserves to be known. There is something tremendously poignant in an artist so well-known for crafting their own image using their final creative act to deliberately destroy that image. Even in obliterating herself, Kahlo made her work speak loudly to us.

Frida Kahlo: The Complete Paintings is published by Taschen.

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Frida Kahlo Quotes

1907 - 1954

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Mexican artist Frida Kahlo , stricken with polio as a child and injured badly in an accident when she was 18, struggled with pain and disability all her life. Her paintings reflect a modernist take on folk art and integrate her experience of suffering. Frida Kahlo was married to artist Diego Rivera.

Selected Frida Kahlo Quotations

• I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.

• I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.

• At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.

• My painting carries with it the message of pain.

• Painting completed my life.

• I paint flowers so they will not die.

• The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.

• I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.

• There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.

• His capacity for work breaks clocks and calendars. [on Diego Rivera]

• I cannot speak of Diego as my husband because that term, when applied to him, is an absurdity. He never has been, nor will he ever be, anybody’s husband.

• The most interesting thing about the so-called lies of Diego is that, sooner or later, the ones involved in the imaginary tale get angry, not because of the lies, but because of the truth contained in the lies, which always comes forth.

• They are so damn 'intellectual' and rotten that I can't stand them anymore... I [would] rather sit on the floor in the market of Toluca and sell tortillas, than have anything to do with those 'artistic' bitches of Paris. [on Andre Breton and the European surrealists]

• I never knew I was a surrealist till Andre Breton came to Mexico and told me I was.

• O'Keefe was in the hospital for three months, she went to Bermuda for a rest. She didn't make love to me that time, I think on account of her weakness. Too bad.

• I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

• Through her paintings, she breaks all the taboos of the woman's body and of female sexuality. [Diego Rivera on Frida Kahlo]

• I recommend her to you, not as a husband but as an enthusiastic admirer of her work, acid and tender, hard as steel and delicate and fine as a butterfly’s wing, lovable as a beautiful smile, and as profound and cruel as the bitterness of life. [Diego Rivera on Frida Kahlo]

• The art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon around a bomb. [Andre Breton about Frida Kahlo]

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Frida Kahlo was a Mexican   Woman Artist , LGBTQ Artist and Self-Taught Artist born on July 6, 1907. Kahlo contributed to the Surrealist movement, worked in the United States and died on July 13, 1954.

Self-portrait wearing a velvet dress 1926

Two Women, Salvadora and Herminia 1928

Frieda and Diego Rivera 1931

Portrait of Luther Burbank 1931

Self-Portrait on the Border Line Between Mexico and the United States 1932

My Grandparents, My Parents, and I (Family Tree) 1936

My Nurse and I 1937

What the Water Gave Me 1938

Fulang-Chang and I 1937 – 1939

Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair 1940

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird 1940

Self-Portrait as a Tehuana (Diego in My Thoughts) 1943

Portrait of Doña Rosita Morillo 1944

The Broken Column 1944

Without Hope 1945

The Wounded Deer 1946

Tree of Hope, Remain Strong 1946

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5 Autobiographical Paintings by Frida Kahlo

The life and Surrealist art of the famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has fascinated admirers, biographers, artists, fashion enthusiasts, and feminists alike.

The lives of female artists often fascinate and captivate people, especially if they are marked by tragedy. This is certainly the case with Frida Kahlo, whose life was characterized by physical pain caused by a streetcar accident and emotional pain that came from her tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera. These aspects of her life made their way into her colorful, unique, and unsettling paintings. By her own admission, her works were glimpses into her experiences as a woman, a wife, and an artist.

5. Healing Expression: Frida Kahlo’s Henry Ford Hospital

From an early age, Frida Kahlo’s life was tainted by pain, one source of which was her inability to have children. This resulted from injuries sustained in a streetcar accident which left her unable to carry pregnancies to term. In 1932, while pregnant, she began bleeding and was taken to the Henry Ford Hospital where she lost the baby. This experience was vividly documented in her painting titled Henry Ford Hospital .

In the painting, Kahlo depicts herself naked and bleeding on a bed. Significantly, this bed is not in a hospital room but is actually portrayed outside with a city seen in the distant background. This emphasizes the vulnerability of the subject, who appears to be isolated from society in her experience. In her hand, she holds six red cords attached to figures arranged on opposite sides of the bed. The cords resemble umbilical cords, connecting the figures to the bedridden Frida.

In the middle to her right is the child she lost, serving as the focal point of the painting, with an anatomical model of a womb on one side and a snail on the other. This creature, often associated with slowness, also represents fragility. Its porcelain-like shell alongside the fact that the cord is around its soft neck may capture the vulnerability of the unborn child and the fleetingness of his life.

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To the left of the bed is a mechanical device used to clean surgical instruments, which appears cold and impersonal. Next to it is a flower that seems bruised, which may be associated with her uterus, damaged after the miscarriage. Finally, there is a pelvis, a part of her body that was injured during the accident.

4. A Reflection on Origins: Family Tree

An aspect of life that played an integral role in Kahlo’s life was family and heritage. Born to a Mexican mother and a German father, she embraced aspects of both cultures. The Mexican revolution that started in 1910, the house known as La Casa Azul (The Blue House), and her hometown were significant parts of her formative years. With the rise of Nazi nationalism and the instatement of the Nuremberg laws, Frida emphasized her mixed heritage in protest. In 1936, she painted My Grandparents, My Parents and Me (Family Tree) to document her diverse lineage.

The setting of this painting is a natural Mexican landscape, which the human genealogy it depicts firmly tends towards. The child Frida is at the base, with her feet planted in The Blue House which served as her childhood home. Above her are her parents in their wedding attire. What they are wearing in the painting was likely deliberately selected by Kahlo to portray the union of two cultures. The European background of her father is implied by his placement close to the sea, suggesting that he traveled from a distant land. Similarly, his German parents are shown above the sea. Conversely, her mother is surrounded by the Mexican landscape, as are her parents.

Connecting all of the figures is a red ribbon held by Frida, the child. This symbolizes their blood relation and serves as a visual representation of familial ties. Further, it resembles the umbilical cord that connects the fetus on the left side of the painting, which some interpret as an unborn Frida, to Mrs Kahlo. The painting is also accentuated, subtly yet significantly, with references to fertility. These include the pollination taking place in the plants and the small ovum being fertilized by sperm. Fertility implies vitality and the health of a bloodline.

3. Delicate Doubling: The Two Fridas

At the time when Frida Kahlo was painting The Two Fridas , she was emotionally struggling in the aftermath of her recent divorce from Diego Rivera. Although she would later remarry him, his frequent infidelity caused a significant amount of strain in their relationship. To a degree, the fact that there are two Frida figures in the painting emphasizes the extent of her loneliness. In the Gothic literary tradition , the concept of the double or the doppelgänger is an unsettling instance of looking at oneself from an external position.

Seeing oneself reflected is a particularly jarring experience because aspects of the self that one does not wish to face may be highlighted. In Frida Kahlo’s The Two Fridas , the dynamic of mirroring creates a disconcertingly delicate portrayal of vulnerability and resilience. The painting portrays both Frida figures with their hearts and vital blood vessels exposed—a fragile state to be in.

The right-hand figure has a healthy heart and her blood vessels are intact and connected to the life source of the heart as well as the talisman representing Diego on her lap. Alternatively, the left-hand figure’s heart is ruptured and the blood vessels at its base lie limp. The vital vessel that curves around the arm, connected to the talisman in her mirror image, is empty with blood spilling from the exposed end. With her outer hand, the Frida figure attempts to stop the flow of blood with a surgical clamp, but it still appears to be leaking blood, which pools on the skirt of her dress. This implies the pain of the loss of Diego, which leaves a gaping, bleeding wound, but it also refers to Frida’s attempts to salvage her life in the aftermath, in an act of resilience and defiance.

2. Strength in Fragility: The Broken Column

A constant aspect of Frida Kahlo’s life experience was the chronic pain that followed her in the aftermath of a streetcar accident. As mentioned previously, the injuries she sustained during this traumatic near-fatal event injured her pelvis, which was possibly the cause of her inability to sustain pregnancies. The implication of this was that, although the accident affected her quality of life, it also likely affected her perceptions of her appearance and her inherent value as a woman.

She painted The Broken Column in 1944 to document the injuries her body sustained from the accident, as well as their lasting effect on her body. The Frida depicted in the painting is resolute and stands straight and stiff like a pillar. As in The Two Fridas , this figure is stripped of her skin to expose what lies beneath—in this case, a broken spinal column represented by a cracked Doric pillar.

The unwavering poise of the subject and the simple grace one would associate with Doric architecture is, in essence, contradictory. Composure and guilelessness are disrupted by the gaping crack in her torso, which echoes the cracks in the pillar. Numerous nails pierce her skin from her face down to what is covered by the white drape.

Although Frida’s facial expression is stoic, tears are streaming down her cheeks. Her nakedness and the fact that her often elaborately braided hair hangs loose down her back also imply her vulnerability. This stark portrayal of chronic pain reflects both the resilience to endure and the inability to conceal its effects. Deserts are often associated with adversity—a period of hardship in one’s life that is often faced alone. Therefore, the desert landscape that forms the background of this painting is symbolic of the suffering endured by Frida.

1. The Mind’s Eye: Frida Kahlo’s Diego and I

Frida Kahlo’s relationship with Diego Rivera was tumultuous at best. Her love for him was all-consuming, yet fraught with conflict. In her own words, he was her everything, yet also a worse accident than the one that maimed her in her teens.

Rivera made his way into several of her artworks, including the one titled Diego and I which she painted during their second and final marriage. Although the union lasted until her death five years after she painted it, the work testifies to the pain that paved their relationship. The figure of Frida, with a miniature Diego on her forehead, fills the majority of the painting. The lack of background, apart from her signature, the date, and the title makes the two figures a focal point.

Frida’s hair—loose, flowing, and slightly unkempt—frames her face and neck. Beneath her prominent brow, her eyes are large and mournful, with three tiny teardrops gracing their inner corners. Like a third eye, the figure of Diego sits on her forehead, which some have interpreted as a symbol that represents how he permeates her consciousness. The concept of the Third Eye, associated with heightened perception and intuition, appears to be a theme in this painting. Diego himself also has a third eye, although it seems like his eyes are looking upwards, away from Frida. This implies the distance between them. Although he is a prominent part of her perception, she, it appears from this portrayal, is not a part of his.

The 5 Faces of Frida Kahlo

By Janie Slabbert MA English w/ Literature Concentration, BA English Janie is an amateur illustrator with a passion for art, ancient studies, mythology, and poetry. She holds an MA in English literature, for which she explored the erotic pursuit metaphor in classical mythology and its transformations in the poetry of women. She is particularly fascinated by the folktales and fairy tales of different cultures, and how these stories speak to human experience. She is a published poet and an avid academic.

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Frida Kahlo: The Complete Paintings reveals the artist's work like never before

Over the years, Frida Kahlo has been hailed as one of the best painters to have ever lived. Her portraits, self-portraits, and works have inspired many around the world in the last five decades. In a similar vein, her lifestyle, fashion sense, and personal life have equally captured the interest of new and old adoring fans.

A new XXL monograph entitled Frida Kahlo: The Complete Paintings has combined Kahlo's 152 paintings with rarely seen photographs, diary entries, letters, and an illustrated biography. It is being hailed as the most extensive study of the artist's life and death. The book is edited by Luis-Martín Lozano and directed and produced by Benedikt Taschen.

This large-format XXL book allows readers to admire Frida Kahlo's paintings like never before, including unprecedented detail shots and famous photographs. It presents pieces in private collections and reproduces works that were previously lost or have not been exhibited for more than 80 years.

The feminist movement in the United States in the 1970s was said to have turbocharged Kahlo's popularity. Her stance on freedom and women's equality regarding reproductive rights was hailed by the movement and its participants.

Luis-Martín Lozano said of the book: "The main purpose...is to reaffirm the importance of documenting, studying, and analysing every one of Kahlo's paintings. The starting point was naturally the catalogue raisonné published in 1988 (Prignitz-Poda/Grimberg/Kettenmann), but with the addition here of catalogue texts written about the individual painting and, for the first time in art-historical works about Kahlo, extensive descriptions about each one of them. The paintings by Kahlo included in this book extend from 1924 to 1954, and in every case, there is the absolute certainty that they were painted by her and have a confirmed provenance. This includes paintings that were documented during Kahlo's lifetime but which have since been destroyed or whose whereabouts are today unknown."

According to Lozano, the first part of the book consists of an essay divided into four chapters that "roughly correspond to the four decades and four phases of Kahlo's artistic career". "The discussion in each of these chapters involves a selection of Kahlo's paintings and some of her drawings, together with various photographs and works by other artists with whom she had several influences, interpretations, and conceptual references in common." he explains. While the second part of the book apparently concentrates on the extensive catalogue of paintings, which are "reproduced (wherever possible) and discussed in detail from a new art-historical perspective."

Luis-Martín Lozano is an art historian specialising in the study of different aspects of modernism in Mexican and Latin American art. He is the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship and has conducted extensive research on the work of both Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, as well as publishing widely on both artists. Lozano was formerly the director of the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City and has been a guest curator for many art institutions in the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and particularly in Mexico.

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Frida Kahlo Quotes – Life Lessons from the Profound Frida Kahlo

What was life like for the artist of the original famous Frida Kahlo paintings? Based on quotes by Frida Kahlo, her life was full of difficulties and disease. However, it was these very difficulties that would spurn her to create the incredible art that she did. By gaining an understanding of this collection of Frida Kahlo quotes, we also get a deeper insight into the mind of this fascinating woman, allowing us to answer questions like “why is Frida Kahlo important?” and many more.

Table of Contents

• 1.1 Why Is Frida Kahlo Important Today?
• 2.1.11 11. 
• 2.2.10 10. 
• 2.2.12 12. 
• 2.3.7 7. 
• 2.4.10 10. 
• 2.5.10 10. 
• 2.5.11 11. 
• 2.5.12 12. 
• 3.1 What Was Frida Kahlo Famous For?
• 3.2 Why Is Frida Kahlo Important as an Artist?

Why Was Frida Kahlo Famous?

Frida Kahlo was an artist that had to endure many hardships in her life. Being a Mexican female meant that she was already in several marginalized categories from birth. She was also inflicted with illnesses and misfortune, having contracted polio at a very young age, leaving her with legs of unequal length. Then, 12 years later, she was involved in a terrible road accident that involved a bus that led to her being bedridden for many months due to her spine and pelvis being fractured.

It was during this dark period of solitude that she turned to art as a form of escape and expression. However, she still became a famous artist despite (or maybe because of) all these challenges.

Original famous Frida Kahlo paintings are highly valued in the art world. Not only did her art depict her innermost struggles as a woman, but also the embrace of her traditional heritage and customs as a Mexican. She was actually half Mexican, so much of her art dealt with coming to terms with her dualistic character in many aspects of her personality – from her diverse cultural background to her life roles as an artist and lover, and even her sexual desires.

Why Is Frida Kahlo Important Today?

Through her personal experiences and her artwork, she has set an example to people across many lines of social separation and distinction. Instead of denying her heritage, she embraced it. Instead of letting her misfortunes dictate her life, she allowed them to be fuel for her passion. In a time when women and Mexicans were not often heard, she used her intimate self-portraits to reflect her inner self back at society, allowing society to reflect on its innermost self.

Famous Frida Kahlo Quotes

Many quotes by Frida Kahlo are not only good advice but also deeply insightful glances into the artist’s intense thoughts. From Frida Kahlo’s feminist quotes to quotes about love and art, her painful life has resulted in much wisdom and knowledge that we can learn from and use to curate our own reality. Let us now look at some famous Frida Kahlo quotes that shed light on the life of this tenacious individual. Not only did Frida Kahlo give us many profound quotes, but she is also quoted by other artists.

André Breton said in his book on the surrealist movement, that “The art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon around a bomb.”

Quotes by Frida Kahlo about Pain and Art

It is impossible to understand Kahlo’s art without understanding the suffering that prompted it. The one was a result of the other, and without her challenges, maybe she would never have discovered art or would never have needed a medium through which to express her pain. 

“Since my subjects have always been my sensations, my states of mind and the profound reactions that life has been producing in me, I have frequently objectified all this in figures of myself, which were the most sincere and real thing that I could do in order to express what I felt inside and outside of myself.”

“They sit for hours in the cafes, warming their precious behinds and talk without stopping about culture, art, revolution and so on and so forth, thinking themselves the gods of the world, dreaming the most fantastic nonsense and poisoning the air with theories and theories that never come true.”

“Pain, pleasure, and death are no more than a process for existence. The revolutionary struggle in this process is a doorway open to intelligence.”

“Painting completed my life. I lost three children and a series of other things that would have fulfilled my horrible life. My painting took the place of all of this. I think work is the best.”

“I must fight with all my strength so that the little positive things that my health allows me to do might be pointed toward helping the revolution. The only real reason for living.”

“My painting contains in it the message of pain. I think that at least a few people are interested in it. It’s not revolutionary. Why keep wishing for it to be belligerent? I can’t.”

“A despair which no words can describe. I’m still eager to live. I’ve started to paint again. A little picture to give to Dr. Farill on which I’m working with all my love. I feel uneasy about my painting.”

“We like being sick to protect ourselves. Someone – something – always protects us from the truth – Our own ignorance and fear. Fear of everything – fear of knowing that we are no more than vectors, direction, construction and destruction to be alive.”

“I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.”

“I was a child who went about in a world of colors. My friends, my companions, became women slowly; I became old in instants.”

“The most powerful art is to make pain a healing talisman.”

Quotes by Frida Kahlo About Love and Relationships

Unfortunately, turmoil did not only exist in her daily life of physical struggles but also in matters of the heart. Despite her family’s displeasure, she married Diego Rivera in her early twenties. He was 20 years Frida’s senior, but her dad believed the union would be a suitable match. And besides, Riviera was one of Mexico’s most accomplished painters, a prominent member of Mexican politics, and he could comfortably afford to sustain Frida, who couldn’t work and was always in need of costly healthcare treatment.

Diego’s notoriety as a ladies’ man dogged him, but Kahlo still loved him despite the fact that he had strayed on her with numerous women. She ultimately became tired of him after learning that Riviera had an encounter with her younger sibling. Kahlo suffered gangrene shortly after the couple split and had her right leg removed at the knee. She suffered from acute depression, which led to binge drinking. Nonetheless, expressing genuine emotion via art helped her above all cope with her situation.

“You deserve a lover who makes you feel safe, who can consume this world whole if he walks hand in hand with you; someone who believes that his embraces are a perfect match with your skin.”

“You deserve a lover who wants you disheveled, with everything and all the reasons that wake you up in haste and the demons that won’t let you sleep.”

“The most interesting thing about the so-called lies of Diego is that, sooner or later, the ones involved in the imaginary tale get angry, not because of the lies, but because of the truth contained in the lies, which always comes forth.”

“I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you.”

“I cannot speak of Diego as my husband because that term, when applied to him, is an absurdity. He never has been, nor will he ever be, anybody’s husband.”

“I warn you that in this picture I am painting of Diego there will be colors which even I am not fully acquainted with. Besides, I love Diego so much I cannot be an objective speculator of him or his life.”

“All this anger has simply made me understand better that I love you more than my own skin, and that even though you don’t love me as much, you love me a little anyway — don’t you? If this is not true, I’ll always be hopeful that it could be, and that’s enough for me.”

“I don’t want anything to hurt him, nothing to bother him and rob him of the energy he needs for living, for living as he likes, for painting, seeing, loving, eating, sleeping, being by himself, being with someone…but I’d never want him to be sad. If I had good health, I would give him all of it, if I had youth, he could take it all.”

“Perhaps it is expected that I should lament about how I have suffered living with a man like Diego. But I do not think that the banks of a river suffer because they let the river flow, nor does the earth suffer because of the rains, nor does the atom suffer for letting its energy escape. To my way of thinking, everything has its natural compensation.”

“My blood is a miracle that, from my veins, crosses the air in my heart into yours.”

“It was a lonely flower, joyful butterfly you landed there; then the pollen of another, more fragrant flower called, and the butterfly flew away.”

“Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are a bourbon biscuit.”

“There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.”

Frida Kahlo’s Feminist Quotes

Frida Kahlo, a feminist, activist, and painter, has encouraged decades of females to think for themselves. Her art, knowledge, and charisma have caused women to sit up and take notice, inspiring them to achieve much more in their professions and lives. Even though she died more than a century ago, her legacy lives on throughout the history of the world’s feminist movement.

Her grief, suffering, and words inspired many women to reconsider how they tackle life in the face of adversity. Her path was filled with both severe agony and incredible ingenuity.

Amidst her sorrow, Kahlo found power in her anguish, which she used to inspire her poems and artworks. Even now, the great painter remains an idol to youthful females. Kahlo was fearless, fiery, and compassionate. Despite sorrow and pain, these Frida Kahlo quotes infuse us with determination, motivation, and the will to accomplish more with our life. Kahlo’s endless energy is represented in her statements and beliefs, which are highly important to every one of us.

“I am my own muse, I am the subject I know best. The subject I want to know better.”

“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.”

“I was born a bitch, I was born a painter.”

“Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.”

“It’s not possible to present an accurate picture of our culture without all the voices of the people in the culture. So at the emerging level, you can’t have a good survey art show without women and artists of color.”

“I am nothing but a “small damned” part of a revolutionary movement. Always revolutionary, never dead, never useless.”

“The most important part of the body is the brain. Of my face, I like the eyebrows and eyes.”

Frida Kahlo Quotes About Her Paintings

Kahlo painted art using vivid colors in a manner informed by Mexican native traditions as well as European elements such as Surrealism, Symbolism, and Realism. Most of her paintings are self-portraits in which she expresses her personal anguish and sexuality metaphorically. These art quotes by Frida Kahlo give us a broader perspective of her outlook as a producer of these revealing and intimate artworks.

“I wish I could do whatever I liked behind the curtain of ‘madness. Then: I’d arrange flowers, all day long, I’d paint; pain, love, and tenderness, I would laugh as much as I feel like at the stupidity of others, and they would all say: ‘Poor thing, she’s crazy!’ (Above all I would laugh at my own stupidity.) I would build my world which while I lived, would be in agreement with all the worlds. The day, or the hour, or the minute that I lived would be mine and everyone else’s – my madness would not be an escape from reality.”

“Really, I do not know whether my paintings are surrealist or not, but I do know that they are the frankest expression of myself.”

“I paint flowers so they will not die.”

If you hope to complete craft projects where you need paint that will work well for any number of surfaces, then craft paint is your go-to! The consistency is smooth, creamy, and easy to use.

“To paint is the most terrific thing that there is, but to do it well is very difficult.”

“I put on the canvas whatever comes into my mind.”

“My paintings are well-painted, not nimbly but patiently.”

“Surrealism is the magical surprise of finding a lion in a wardrobe, where you were ‘sure’ of finding shirts.”

“I don’t paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.”

“I have never expected anything from my work but the satisfaction I could get from it by the very fact of painting and saying what I couldn’t say otherwise.”

Philosophical Frida Kahlo Quotes

Frida Kahlo exemplifies the concept that it is our ethical responsibility to use our tragedies to create something positive and beneficial. This could be achieved whether it is with artistry, assisting others, or our own personal enlightenment. Kahlo recreated all of her grief in her work, turning it into a bigger narrative about what it is to be a female.

“There isn’t enough time there, isn’t enough nothing. There is only reality. What once was is long gone! What remains are the transparent roots appearing transformed into an eternal fruit tree. Your fruits already give scent, your flowers give color blooming in the joy of wind and flowers.”

“To trap one’s self-suffering is to risk being devoured from the inside.”

“Through the round numbers and the colored nerves, the stars are made and the worlds are sounds.”

“You didn’t understand what I am. I am love. I am pleasure. I am essence. I am an idiot. I am tenacious. I am. I simply am.”

“What I wanted to express very clearly and intensely was that the reason these people had to invent or imagine heroes and gods is pure fear. Fear of life and fear of death.”

“This upper class is disgusting and I’m furious at all these rich people here, having seen thousands of people in abject squalor.”

“I drank to drown my sorrows, but the damned things learned how to swim.”

“Don’t build a wall around your suffering. It may devour you from the inside.”

“Your word travels the entirety of space and reaches my cells which are my stars then goes to yours which are my light.”

“The most important thing for everyone in Gringolandia is to have ambition and become ‘somebody,’ and frankly, I don’t have the least ambition to become anybody.”

“High society here turns me off and I feel a bit of rage against all these rich guys here, since I have seen thousands of people in the most terrible misery without anything to eat and with no place to sleep, that is what has most impressed me here, it is terrifying to see the rich having parties day and night while thousands and thousands of people are dying of hunger…”

“It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.”

We hope you have enjoyed our essential list of Frida Kahlo quotes. These quotes have given us a thorough look at the incredible mind of this talented woman. These insightful quotes by Frida Kahlo have helped answer the question “Why was Frida Kahlo famous?”

Frequently Asked Questions

What was frida kahlo famous for.

Original famous Frida Kahlo paintings are extremely valuable in the art world. Her work not only depicted her innermost problems as a woman, but also her acceptance of her traditional Mexican history and customs. Because she was half Mexican, much of her art dealt with reconciling her dual nature in many parts of her life, from her unique cultural heritage to her life roles as artist and lover, and even her sexual urges.

Why Is Frida Kahlo Important as an Artist?

She has provided an ideal to individuals across various boundaries of social division and distinction via her own experiences and her paintings. Rather than disavow her ancestry, she welcomed it. Instead of allowing her tragedies to control her life, she turned them into fuel for her enthusiasm. She utilized her personal self-portraits to mirror her inner self back at society, allowing society to reflect on its innermost self at a period when women and Mexicans were not commonly heard.

Isabella studied at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English Literature & Language and Psychology. Throughout her undergraduate years, she took Art History as an additional subject and absolutely loved it. Building on from her art history knowledge that began in high school, art has always been a particular area of fascination for her. From learning about artworks previously unknown to her, or sharpening her existing understanding of specific works, the ability to continue learning within this interesting sphere excites her greatly.

Her focal points of interest in art history encompass profiling specific artists and art movements, as it is these areas where she is able to really dig deep into the rich narrative of the art world. Additionally, she particularly enjoys exploring the different artistic styles of the 20 th century, as well as the important impact that female artists have had on the development of art history.

Learn more about Isabella Meyer and the Art in Context Team .

Cite this Article

Isabella, Meyer, “Frida Kahlo Quotes – Life Lessons from the Profound Frida Kahlo.” Art in Context. October 26, 2021. URL: https://artincontext.org/frida-kahlo-quotes/

Meyer, I. (2021, 26 October). Frida Kahlo Quotes – Life Lessons from the Profound Frida Kahlo. Art in Context. https://artincontext.org/frida-kahlo-quotes/

Meyer, Isabella. “Frida Kahlo Quotes – Life Lessons from the Profound Frida Kahlo.” Art in Context , October 26, 2021. https://artincontext.org/frida-kahlo-quotes/ .

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Frida Kahlo Quotes

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Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.

At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.

I am my own muse. I am the subject I know best. The subject I want to better.

Passion is the bridge that takes you from pain to change.

I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you.

Can one invent verbs? I want to tell you one: I sky you, so my wings extend so large to love you without measure.

I drank to drown my sorrows, but the damned things learned how to swim.

Sexism and racism are parallel problems. You can compare them in some ways, but they're not at all the same. But they're both symptoms inside the white male power structure.

There is nothing more precious than laughter

I paint flowers so they will not die.

Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?

I wish I could do whatever I liked behind the curtain of “madness”. Then: I’d arrange flowers, all day long, I’d paint; pain, love and tenderness, I would laugh as much as I feel like at the stupidity of others, and they would all say: “Poor thing, she’s crazy!” (Above all I would laugh at my own stupidity.) I would build my world which while I lived, would be in agreement with all the worlds. The day, or the hour, or the minute that I lived would be mine and everyone else’s - my madness would not be an escape from “reality”.

I am that clumsy human, always loving, loving, loving. And loving. And never leaving.

I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint.

Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are a bourbon biscuit.

I wanted to tell you that my whole being opened for you. Since I fell in love with you everything is transformed and is full of beauty... love is like an aroma, like a current, like rain.

Everyone's opinions about things change over time. Nothing is constant. Everything changes. And to hold onto some dogged idea forever is a little rigid and maybe naive.

Mankind owns its destiny, and its destiny is the earth. We are destroying it until we have no destiny.

I want a storm to come and flood us into a song that no one wrote.

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

Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.

I love you more than my own skin and even though you don’t love me the same way, you love me anyways, don’t you? And if you don’t, I’ll always have the hope that you do, and i’m satisfied with that. Love me a little. I adore you.

I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you.

My paintings are well-painted, not nimbly but patiently. My painting contains in it the message of pain. I think that at least a few people are interested in it. It's not revolutionary. Why keep wishing for it to be belligerent? I can't. Painting completed my life. I lost three children and a series of other things that would have fulfilled my horrible life. My painting took the place of all of this. I think work is the best.

There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.

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Frida Kahlo

• Born: July 6, 1907
• Died: July 13, 1954
• Occupation: Painter
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The Two Fridas, 1939 by Frida Kahlo

This painting was completed shortly after her divorce with Diego Rivera . This portrait shows Frida's two different personalities. One is the traditional Frida in Tehuana costume, with a broken heart, sitting next to an independent, modern dressed Frida. In Frida's diary, she wrote about this painting and said it is originated from her memory of an imaginary childhood friend. Later she admitted it expressed her desperation and loneliness with the separation from Diego .

In this painting, the two Fridas are holding hands. They both have visible hearts and the heart of the traditional Frida is cut and torn open. The main artery, which comes from the torn heart down to the right hand of the traditional Frida, is cut off by the surgical pincers held in the lap of the traditional Frida. The blood keeps dripping on her white dress and she is in danger of bleeding to death. The stormy sky filled with agitated clouds may reflect Frida's inner turmoil.

In 1947, this painting was acquired by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Institute of Fine Arts) in Mexico City. The purchase price was 4,000 Pesos (about $1,000) at that time and an additional 36 Pesos for the frame. That was the highest price that Frida was ever paid for a painting during her lifetime.

The Two Fridas

Self-portrait with thorn necklace & hummingbird, viva la vida, watermelons, the wounded deer, self portrait with monkeys, without hope, me and my parrots, what the water gave me, frida and diego rivera, the wounded table, diego and i, my dress hangs there, henry ford hospital, self portrait as a tehuana, fulang chang and i.

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Art History

A new book gathers every single documented frida kahlo painting, including lost works—see images here.

Some of the works illustrated in the book haven't been exhibited in over 80 years.

Despite her lasting fame,  Frida Kahlo  made surprisingly few works in her life. Now, all 152 of the artist’s documented paintings have been collected in a massive new coffee table book from Taschen,  Frida Kahlo: The Complete Paintings by Luis-Martín Lozano.

The gorgeously illustrated $200 tome includes reproductions and analysis of all of Kahlo’s known paintings, including several works that have been lost, numerous photographs of the great Mexican artist, and a detailed account of her life and career.

For author Luis-Martín Lozano, the book represents 30 years of research on the artist, tracking down artworks in private collections that are rarely loaned or reproduced. (He published his first book on the artist in 2001.)

“Every single painting is covered—that’s never been done before,” Lozano, an art historian and curator, told Artnet News, noting that some of these paintings haven’t been exhibited in over 80 years.

Frida Kahlo, Self-portrait (Time Flies) (ca. 1929). Photo by LML Archive, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

“The people who write about Kahlo tend to repeat the same ideas and the same paintings over and over,” he added. “There’s lack of real research on Kahlo.”

Two private collections have become major lenders to institutional exhibitions about Kahlo, meaning that the visibility of works owned by Doris Olmedo and Jacques and Natasha Gelman has done much to shape public knowledge of and scholarship about the artist.

In addition to showcasing Kahlo’s lesser-known works, Lozano hopes that the book will also broaden readers’ understanding of the artist, allowing them to appreciate the complexity of her paintings beyond the ways in which they illustrate her iconic fashion, her Mexican identity, her health struggles, and her romantic relationships.

Frida Kahlo beside a Pre-Hispanic sculpture in the garden of the Casa Azul (1951). Photo ©bpk/IMEC, Fonds MCC/Gisèle Freun, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

“Kahlo’s paintings talk much more about social and historical issues than has been pointed out,” Lozano said.

“I really hope readers realize how much more complex her painting is, and how well-versed she was in art history. She was looking at many, many sources, from German New Objectivity to Surrealism, and also Pre-Columbian art and Egyptian antiquities,” he added. “All this together makes her paintings much more than just her biography.”

See more paintings from the book below.

Frida Kahlo, Hospital Henry Ford (1932). Photo by akg-images, Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico City, Xochimilco, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

Frida Kahlo, Ixcuhintli Dog with Me, (c. 1938). Photo by akg-images, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

Frida Kahlo, The Heart (1937). Photo by Fine Art Images/Bridgeman Images, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

Frida Kahlo, What Water Gave Me (1938). Photo by Christie’s Images/Bridgeman Images, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

Frida Kahlo, The Dream (The Bed) (1940). Photo by Jorge Contreras Chacel. ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

Frida Kahlo, Self-portrait With Small Monkey (1945). Photo by akg-images, Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico City, Xochimilco, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

Frida Kahlo, Without Hope (1945). Photo by akg-images, Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico City, Xochimilco, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

Frida Kahlo, The Little Deer (1946). Photo by Fine Art Images, Bridgeman Images, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

Frida Kahlo, Self-portrait (for Samuel Fastlicht) , 1948. Photo by akg-images, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

Frida Kahlo, Self-portrait (with Dr. Farill) , 1951. Photo by Rafael Doniz, courtesy Hauser & Wirth Collection Services, ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021; reproduction authorized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2021.

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