Frida Kahlo is a famous Mexican Surrealist artist and her art was known for its colourful self portraits with themes of death, identity, and the human body. Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 and had a German father and a Spanish Mother which influenced her artistic career by exploring her identity and depicting her ancestry as “binary opposites” for her colonial European side and her indigenous Mexican side. As a child, Frida had polio which effected her throughout her life. However, as Frida grew up her and her father constantly worked together (as her dad was a photographer) and Frida helped him out in his studio which later helped her develop a sharp eye for detail. Frida then took some drawing classes and became interested in science, and in 1922 she entered the National Preparatory School in Mexico City in hopes of studying in medicine (and in this school she met her future husband Diego Rivera who was working on a mural at the time). In 1925 Frida had gotten into a bus accident and went through many medical operations; during her recovery she taught herself how to paint by studying the art of the Old Masters, and painted the “Self Portrait Wearing a Velvet Dress.”

Frida and her lover Riveras relationship began to blossom and Kahlo developed a new painting style and began to wear a Tehuana dress which became a trademark of hers. Her painting “Frieda and Diego Rivera” demonstrated her new found interest of Mexican folk art and her new dress attire. In 1930-33, Frida went to the U.S to paint murals while she was pregnant. During this time, she suffered a miscarriage and the death of her mother which led her to paint “Henry Ford Hospital” which depicted herself hemorrhaging on a hospital bed, and “My Birth” which was a scene of a shrouded woman giving birth.

In 1933, Frida went back to Mexico and participated in solo exhibitions, where she became branded as a Surrealist painter and was adored by various famous artists. Over the years of Frida’s successful art career, she painted the “Two Fridas” (which is her most popular works) with twin figures of Frida holding hands, representing her duality and opposing sides of herself and also about her heritage of being both Mexican and European. Frida was a very successful artist but on July 13, 1954, she unfortunately died suddenly from pneumonia.

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I really enjoy Frida Kahlo’s artwork because we have something in common, as we both like to add lots of colour into our art pieces. I find Frida’s art very appealing to the eyes with all of her bright colours and I find it very intriguing. The Two Frida’s is my favourite piece of hers because she’s showing both sides of her cultural heritage and how they’re both very different but she brought them together (I find this concept very cool because I don’t know much about my cultural identity).

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Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frida-Kahlo