Frida Kahlo Struggles

Frida Kahlo, who was an amazing self-portrait artist, was born during the Mexican revolution. She used her Mexican heritage to paint herself always keeping a tight grasp on her national identity. In order to understand Kahlo and her paintings the historical and political factors that she lived in must be taken in to consideration. Frida’s works of art reflect her life experiences, physical and emotional pain that she felt throughout her lifetime. Frida also utilizes her personal life, health and sometimes even social affairs to relate to her Mexican culture and politics. Kahlo’s paintings are very powerful and relevant to Mexican nationalism and her political views in the social, cultural, and political aspects of Mexico.

People may refer to Frida Kahlo as the lady with the unibrow, but others refer to her as one the greatest Mexican painters. She was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyocoan Mexico. When she was about 6 she was diagnosed with polio which is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems, or even death. (Crosta 1) Due to polio she was bedridden for 9 months. Frida attended the National Preparatory School where she first noticed Diego Rivera who is a famous muralist. At this time she fell in love with another man Alejandro Gomez Arias. She and Alejandro were on a trip when a monumental moment happened which will change her life forever…. (Frida Kahlo Biography 1)

Since time immemorial, art has been an integral tool in influencing a society, pushing forth ideas, expressing the general atmosphere amongst the party’s involved and fighting vices in the society. Art is fundamental in the transformation of any society through its ability to influence opinions and values. Through sound, vision any other form that art may take, communications is enhanced. Visual art, Music and poetry have always been the most used.

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who is best known for her self portraits. Frida was born as Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón but later changed it to Frida Kahlo. She was born on July 6, 1907 in her parents house known as La Casa Azul in Coyoacán, Mexico. At that time, Coyoacan was a small town on the outskirts of Mexico City. Later throughout the years Kahlo claimed to have been born on July 7, 1910 to coincide with the date of when the Mexican Revolution began. Her parents were Guillermo Kahlo and Matilde Calderón y González which they had four daughters, Matilde (1898-1951), Adriana (1902-1968), Frida (1907-1954) and Cristina (1908-1964), Kahlo was the third daughter. By age 16 Frida Kahlo was able to read not only in Spanish but English and German as well.

The mexican revolution started in 1910, three years after Frida Kahlo was born. Frida is one of mexico's famous artist knowns for rebellious attitude and iconic self portraits, with 143 painting and 55 self portraits. Frida wasn't afraid to show her life story through her paintings.

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s fame only grew larger after her death, bringing her art as well as her personal life into museums, books, and also movies. Through her life Kahlo dealt with various illness, tumultuous relationships, and was even involved in some political movements. Consequently, her art was influenced by all the experiences as seen and felt through her own eyes and flesh.

Frida Kahlo is a very interesting person whom has been through a lot in her short life. Though there is so much to say about the past of Frida Kahlo from her ghastly affair’s and man like tendencies. Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 and lived in a house that her father built in Mexico City (Tuchman). Kahlo was a hard working woman but who had a horrible temper. When Kahlo was engaged with Rivera at the age of twenty-one, her father even gave a warning to Rivera. That Frida was “a devil” and Rivera replied “I know it (Tuchman).” Throughout Kahlo’s life time she only produced around two- hundred paintings. Her paintings were all relatively still portraits of herself and of friends and family. She was good at creating hunting, and sensual original paintings and that fuse the elements of surrealism (Tuchman).

Hayden Herrera’s book Frida, A Biography of Frida Kahlo (1983) writes with engrossing detail the life story of the famous Mexican painter Frida Kahlo known for her folk art with vibrant colors and elements of surrealism. Herrera captivates her audience by telling the challenging journey and the various important obstacles Kahlo had to face throughout her entire life during the twentieth-century. Herrera explains how Kahlo’s various masterpieces have been shaped by her life circumstances and experiences like her childhood in Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution; the traumatic accident when she was a young girl that left her incapacitated and unable to bear children; her turbulent marriage with muralist Diego Rivera and love affairs;

As a young women, Frida would have never imagined becoming a painter, as it was not a part of her career goals. In 1922, Kahlo was one of very few females who enrolled at the renowned national preparatory school and became known for her pleasant and cheerful spirit. Kahlo became friends with a group of politically minded students while at school. At this young age, Frida’s life goal was to become a doctor, however this all changed after a tragic accident at age 18, which changed the course of her life. The injuries from the accident were ones that she would never fully recover from and which would bring her chronic pain for the rest of her life. The accident also prevented her from bearing children and Kahlo suffered a number of miscarriages throughout her life. She was known to have

For the beginning years of Frida’s artistic career, her work was greatly over-shadowed by Diego Rivera and was mainly known as just “Diego’s wife.” It wasn’t until 1938 that surrealist artist Andre Breton arranged for Khalo to have her first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York, which was a major hit. After much praise and great success, a second exhibition followed in Paris in 1939. Although the success of the Parisian expose wasn’t as great, the Louvre decided to purchase a painting from Khalo, The Frame, cementing her as the first Mexican artist to be featured in their collection. Despite the many barriers that women faced when establishing themselves as great artists, Frida Khalo had the virtue of being a woman in Mexican culture, which for the most part, was inclusive towards women and regarded them (women/mothers) as of equal importance which allowed for them to interact in the same social circles as men.

4. Frida Kahlo essentially became an international cultural icon, honored by many people, especially in Mexico. Her artwork withholds visual symbolism of all kinds of emotional and physical pain and most importantly she incorporated indigenous culture and her depiction of the female experience. Including illustrating the feelings of death, loneliness, pain, including the pain of miscarriages, failed marriage, and the aftermath of tragic accidents. Through her imagery, she was able to portray her life experiences. She would include specific elements that symbolized something greater. Throughout the process of analyzing all different aspects of Frida Kahlo’s paintings, it provided a deeper understanding to each painting.

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist that lived during the time period of the Mexican Revolution. Kahlo become a cultural icon and is especially revered in her home country for her focus on her Mexican identity. Using her personal tragedies, both physical and psychological, combined with a realistic painting style, Kahlo produced images that were emotionally raw and visually disturbing. Her artistic output was dominated by self-portraits that often show the artist suffering. Kahlo's interest in her own mixed German-Mexican ancestry in conjunction with the influence of her husband's strong nationalism in his own art meant that many of Kahlo's works dealt with combined issues of national identity, her husband's looming presence as an artist in his

Kahlo was an important figure of her time; she opened barriers for women in the art world, as well as with women who felt like they had to conform to society’s gender roles. It is amazing how Frida continues to impact generations, and will continue to do

Frida Kahlo was a half-mexican, half-hungarian painter of the 20th century born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón in Coyoacán, Mexico City on July 6, 1907. During her short lived life, she had many accomplishments. She was a surrealist artist whos paintings reflected her thoughts and feelings. Her creative style was always amazing but confusing. Unfortunately, she lived most of her artistic life in the shadow of her husband, Diego Rivera, and her work was not truly recognized until after her death.

Art is a catalyst of change. It can confront both social and political issues as well as providing people with a creative outlet in which they can express their innermost thoughts and feelings - but what effect can art have on our society as a whole? Artists today have the unique ability to connect with people in a creative, innovative way that they can understand and interpret themselves. With this ability, artists are able to express their own views as well as influencing the views of others. Art is an immense part of our world – so much so that we barely even consider its impact upon us – but just how significant is the work of artists in our modern day society?