Frida Kahlo's Self Portrait Dedicated To Dr. Eloesser

Frida Kahlo was a very talented Mexican artist that revolutionized art at a very young age. Her work is still idolized and celebrated today and is studied by many artists, institutes of higher education, museums, and fans. Kahlo was born in the town of Coyoacan, Mexico on July the sixth in the year of 1907 (Kettenmann 3). She made around 143 paintings, and out of those 143 paintings, 55 were self-portraits that included symbolism of her physical and emotion pain. Furthermore, in her portraits she used symbolism to express her wounds and sexuality. She use to say: “I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality” (Fuentes 41). Her paintings style include of vibrant colors and was heavily influenced

1. Frida Kahlo is one not only Mexico's most iconic artists, but one of the world's most iconic artists as well. She was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyocoan Mexico City, Mexico. Her father was of German descent and migrated to Mexico where he met her mother, who was half Spanish and half AmerIndian. She also had three sisters. Frida was always very close to her father, and was very proud of her Mexican heritage. During her childhood, she contracted a disease called Polio. She was very ill and had to stay in bed for a whole 9 months. The disease caused her right leg to become much skinnier and weaker than the left one. She had a permanent limp because of it and always wore long skirts to hide it. She met her future husband, Diego Rivera, when she was in preparatory school. One day in 1922, she was on a Bus and got in a horrific accident. She was severely injured, as a steel rail impaled her through the hip. During her period of recovery is when she began to paint her famous self-portraits. Frida and Diego reconnected in 1928 and them married in 1929. Their marriage, however, wasn't a healthy one. Diego cheated on Frida many times and they lived in separate houses. Frida, given her condition was always very depressed. She sadly passed away in 1954. Her death was reported to be caused by a pulmonary embolism, but many suspect her death may not have been accidental.

Frida Kahlo is one of the most famous female painters to originate from the twentieth century, and for good reason. Her art is filled with beauty and creativity, but Frida’s main source of fame comes from the emotions that these paintings invoke, rather than the actual paintings. This is because Frida put herself into every painting she did, leaving traces of her presence all throughout this world and these traces remain long after her physical departure. Frida was a very peculiar and unique individual, hence, Frida’s definition of what a person is, or rather, what a self is, follows accordingly. The self is the reality that one conceives, and this self will live long after the physical body dies, continuing on as long as their

Frida Kahlo´s image has been exploited for several years, now a days it is quite easy to find: rings, phone cases, t-shirts, among several other products, all with images of Frida´s art. As a result, this got me wondering on, what made this Mexican artist worthy of such success? What did she do that was considered so important? There are many answers to those questions because Frida Kahlo made a significant impact in the world not only because of her artistic style but also, with her way of living.

In this essay, I will be discussing how two famous artists from different times and cultures have created aesthetic qualities in artworks, communicated ideas and developed styles. Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso have been chosen to express two very different art styles and how both artists use elements and principles to create a distinct quality artwork. Although Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso come from different parts of the world and have different cultural backgrounds, both artists have practiced and explored portraiture as a way of making art.

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.

Frida Kahlo was best known for her reflective self-portraits that defined the tragedies she'd endured. Explaining her affection for the style, Kahlo said, "I paint myself because I am so often alone, because I am the subject I know best.” Kahlo contracted Polio at the age of six which left her with a deformed foot, she was also Bed-bound while recovering from a grisly streetcar accident. Kahlo under went over 30 operations throughout her life; and over the years she painted a portrait of herself whenever she was troubled.

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)

One of my most favorite artists is the Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo. She was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon in Coyoacan, Mexico, July 6, 1907 and died July 13, 1954. She was one of four daughters born to a Hungarian-Jewish father and a mother of Spanish and Mexican Indian descent. Frida Kahlo is the most famous Mexican woman artist on the contemporary art scene. In 1922, Kahlo hung out with a group of politically and intellectually like-minded students. The Mexican mural movement begins. Frida first learns of Diego Rivera, who is painting his mural "Creation" at the school 's lecture hall. Kahlo becoming a painter, was not a part of Frida 's career goals. Her goal in life was to become a doctor but a tragic accident at age 18 left her mentally and physically scared for life. It changed the course of her life forever. It was during her months of convalescence that Frida began to take painting seriously…"to combat the boredom and pain". she said. "I felt I still had enough energy to do something other than studying to become a doctor. Without giving it any particular thought, I started painting." It was the beginning of a life-long career for Frida.

Frida Kahlo, she never intended to become a painter. Kahlo was aspired to become a doctor as a young woman, but after a horrible accident at the age of 18, it left her mentally, as well as physically scared for life. This event had totally changed her life forever. The theme in almost all of Frida’s painting was her own life. Her paintings were based on events took place during her lifetime. As we can see in many of Frida’s paintings, especially in her self-portraits, it expresses her own personal emotions along with feelings about an event that happened in her life, such as her physical condition, her lack of ability to conceive children of her own, her ideology of life and nature, and most important of all, it was her unstable relationship with her husband Diego. Somewhere between the movement of surrealism, realism and symbolism in the art of Frida Kahlo, she was able to bring out tenderness, femininity, reality, cruelty and suffering within her paintings.

Frida Kahlo was an amazing woman whose many tragedies influenced her to put her stories into her paintings. She was born in July 6th 1907 to a Mexican Roman Catholic mother who was of Indian and Spanish decent and a German photographer father. Frida had three sisters, Mitilde and Adriana, who were older and Christina who was younger. She learned about Mexican history, art and architecture by looking at her father’s photography. When Frida was six she got polio and it was a long time before she would heal completely. After surviving polio, Frida’s right leg became weak and thin, so her father encouraged her to play sports to help her.

Frida attended a National Preparatory School in 1922 hoping to become a doctor. At the same school, she saw Diego Rivera, painting “The Creation” (“Biography.com”). Frida was inspired and approached Diego with her compliments. He told her to go home and return with a painting in one week for him to judge. When she did as he asked, he was very impressed with her artistic ability and they became close (“Frida Kahlo: Biography”). Their relationship progressed and then Frida got into her terrible bus accident.

They say, “pictures are worth a thousand words” and I believe when it comes to my chosen artist, Frida Kahlo, her portraits could not be a better example of that saying. All of the 200 paintings done by Frida Kahlo say more about her life and what she experienced than any article I have ever read about her. From her health issues and violent bus accident to her tumultuous marriage with her husband, Diego Rivera is all an influence in her paintings.

Frida Kahlo is a world-renowned Mexican painter known for her shocking self-portaits filled with painful imagery. Her artwork was seen by many as surrealist and socialist, but she refused the labels put on herself. Until today, her works have been able to exude the same playful and wild feel as before (Fisher n.p). Her legacy as a painter has attracted prominent people like Madonna who has confessed her admiration for the painter. Not only that but fashion designers are frequently inspired by her iconic Tijuana dresses while her paintings have been priced at more than three million dollars (Bauer 115).

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.