Frida Kahlo: The Pain and Passion

     Frida Kahlo was born in July 6, 1907. She was a Mexican painter, who was most famous for her self-portraits. On September 17, 1925 Kahlo was riding in a bus that collided with a trolley car. She was seriously injured and was on the verge of dying, but she miraculously lived. She had a broken spinal column, a broken pelvis, and many other injuries. She spent three months in a full body cast where she suffered with pain and frustration. In 1927, she met Diego Rivera, who was a big influence in her painting career. Frida had always admired Diego and his work and eventually fell in love with him. Diego was impressed with her work and provided her with many insights of her art work. Diego eventually ended up cheating on Frida with her own sister and was devastated because she was close to her.
     Frida Kahlo was inspired by the symbolic monkeys because they were a symbol of lust, but Kahlo portrayed them as tender and protective. She used a lot of bright colors in her paintings and dramatic symbolism and primitive style. Since Frida was unable to use her body and function, she was never able to have a child, which was hard for her because every woman's wish is to have a child. She never fully recovered, which explains why her self portraits displayed pain and anger. Her work is remembered for its "pain and passion." You can learn more about Frida's life here. She paints about the events that happened in her life, love, loss, politics, and surgery.

Frida Kahlo "My Birth" 1932

    Frida was not close to her mother as much as her father. Her mother, Matilde Calderon  y Gonzalez, was a Roman Catholic who was very religious. Her father, Guillermo Kahlo, was born in 1871. She was the closest to her father and believed that he was the only man she could look up to. In her painting, "My Birth" it shows Frida, herself being born, but her mother's face is covered with the sheet. This symbolizes that she was not close to her mother and she always felt distant towards her.

Frida Kahlo "The Flying Bed" 1932

    Frida Kahlo suffered a lot of pain in her life. She couldn't have a child, she couldnt move and function like normal human beings, and she was heart broken by the one man she truly loved and trusted. "The Flying Bed" represents events that happened in her life that caused her to feel pain and anger. You can see that there is blood on the bed which symbolizes the fact that she cannot have a child. It is heartbreaking and touching to see this painting because you can feel the suffering and pain Frida went through. Her struggles in life portrays how strong she was as a woman to be able to live on and go through this pain.  "The world just loves women artists who are sad and dead. But I was the hero of my own life" (Guerilla Girls, 79).

Frida Kahlo "The Broken Column" 1944

Frida Kahlo "The Two Fridas" 1939

                                 
    Frida's love for Diego Rivera was unconditional. She was truly inspired by his works, since he was already a painter, and she believed that he was her inspiration towards her paintings. Her pain mainly came from Diego after numerous affairs and the affair with her own sister. "The Broken Column" reveals nails stabbed onto her body but the biggest nail is stabbed right in her heart. This symbolizes her broken heart from Diego. "The Two Fridas" depicts that one of them is for the love towards Diego and the other is the hatred towards him. The open heart symbolizes this and the pain in their relationship.


Bibliography:

The Guerilla Girls. The Guerilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books 1988
www.fridakahlo.com
Photo credit: Google Images