Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, to Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón in
Coyocoan, Mexico City, Mexico. She grew up
in the family’s house where she was born – later known as the blue house or
Casa Azul. Her father was a German photographer; she had two older sisters
named Matilde and Adriana, and later a younger one known as Cristina. Around
the age of 6 she contracted polio, which caused her to be bedridden for nine
months. She recovered with the encouragement from her father to stay active. In
1922 she enrolled at the renowned National Preparatory School. She was one of
the few female students to attend the school, and she became known for her
jovial spirit. That same year, she became interested in the works of Diego
Rivera, and would often watch him work on a project. Here is a video with a short Biography of Frida's life.
Three
years later on September 17, she and her boyfriend at the time Alejandro Gomez
Arias were traveling together on a bus when a vehicle collided with a train. As
a result Kahlo was impaled by a steel handrail, which went straight through her
pelvis. She suffered several serious injuries,
including fractures in her spine and pelvis. Though
tragic, this is when she began painting. It was during her recovery that she
created her first self portrait; with she gave to Gomez Arias. Later she
married Diego Rivera. She moved around with him, were commissions fro, his work
was received. In 1930 they lived in San Francisco. In 1932, Kahlo incorporated more graphic and
surrealistic elements on her work. In her painting Henry Ford Hospital (1932):
Her development of all of her works always come from some type of mishap in her life. Like anyone, she showed and coped with her issues through her art. It was that, that made her famous. She never sugar coated her work and let it be as it was. Like her painting of her accident, she showed everything without you having to look for it. Which is why I like her. Many artist today are obsessed with what is beautiful by appearance, and fail to appreciate the raw arts. Frida, in all of the self portraits that I have seen of her, never altered her appearance. She kept the uni - brow that many people today would view as unattractive.
All in all she was her own woman. When her marriage took a turn for the worst she stood up from it and proved she didn't need a man in her life. She traveled and made her own choses and made sure she was not condemned to being a housewife. Sadly in 1954 Frida died. her paintings left for people to remember her by. She is one to be known and I hope this has made you curious of her legacy.
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