Frida Kahlo

Background

Magdalene Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon, also known as Frida Kahlo, was a Mexican painter whose works were inspired by Mexico’s folk culture, nature, and artifacts. She is recognized as one of Mexico’s greatest artists. Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, in Mexico. She was of German and Mestiza descent as her father, Guillermo Kahlo, was German while her mother, Matilde Calderon y Gonzalez, was Mestiza. Her family home in Coyoacan is now open to the public as the Frida Kahlo Museum. Kahlo contracted polio as a child and was bedridden for nine months.

After recovering from polio, Kahlo’s legs were disfigured, which caused her to limp. She fancied art from an early age and got an art instructor, Fernando Fernadez. She worked as a paid engraving apprentice for him, and he was very impressed by her talent. At 18, she had a ghastly bus accident which made her bedridden for three months. Staying in bed propelled Kahlo to paint and draw portraits of herself, her school friends, and her sisters.

Kahlo moved to San Francisco in the United States in 1930 and was introduced to American artists like Nickolas Muray, Edward Weston, and Ralph Stackpole. In 1931, she made a double portrait of her wedding photograph named “Frieda and Diego Rivera.” She moved to Detroit with her husband, Diego Rivera, and developed her art skills by experimenting with techniques like frescos and etching. In 1932, she painted “Henry Ford Hospital,” “My Birth,” and “Self-portrait on the Border of Mexico and the United States.” Although these never made it to the exhibitions in Detroit, she was interviewed by U.S newspapers. In 1934, she returned to Mexico and continued painting. Her works like “My Nurse and I” and “Four Inhabitants of Mexico” were exhibited at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1938. Edward G. Robinson purchased four of her paintings at $200 per one. She earned more recognition from Andre Breton, a French Surrealist. She faced several challenges, but her works were still featured in Boston in 1941 at the Institute of Contemporary Art. In 1942, Kahlo became a founding member of Seminario de Cultura Mexicana to spread the good news about Mexican culture. She received a 5000-peso prize for one of her paintings, “Moses.” She was able to gain recognition as an artist not only in Mexico but also in the United States. In 1954, she had her last paintings, “Marxism Will Give Health to the Sick” and “Frida and Stalin.” After Kahlo passed away, her painting, “The Tree of Hope Stands Firm,” was sold for $19 000. Her fame as an artist grew tremendously after she died, and she was recognized as one of the greatest Mexican artists of the 21st Century. She became the first Latin-American painter to sell over one million dollars in artwork as her painting, “Diego and I,” was auctioned in 2006. In 2016, “Two Lovers in a Forest” sold for over eight million dollars. In 2014, Rainbow Honor Walk honored Kahlo as one of the inaugural honourees.

Kahlo lived a fulfilled life, although she had several health challenges up until her death on July 13, 1954. She married Diego Rivera, who was 20 years older than her, in 1929, divorced him in 1939, and remarried him in 1940. Kahlo was not able to have children because of the bus accident. Despite being bedridden for a while due to certain circumstances and mishaps, she found satisfaction in making paintings. Part of her leg was amputated to stop gangrene from spreading in her right foot. Her fame grew after her death. In 1983, “A Biography of Frida Kahlo” was published by Hayden Herrera, and in 2002, a movie titled “Firda” was released and nominated for six Academy Awards. It won Best Makeup and Original Score.