Frida Kahlo, being physically handicapped, only produced about 200 paintings and sold a significantly low amount of works during her life. Despite all of this, Kahlo is seen as one of the largest icons in Mexican culture and continues to grow in popularity worldwide. In 1933, a painting appeared on a 34 cent postage stamp, in 2000, one of Frida’s self portraits sold for $5 million, and during November 2002, a biographical movie “Frida” was released (Smithsonian and Art Story). Frida Kahlo was born “Madalena Carmen Frida y Calderon” on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacan, Mexico. Her mother was a devout Catholic named “Matilde Calderon y Gonzalez” and her father was a painter from Germany named “Guillermo Kahlo”. Frida had 5 sisters and a brother who died as an infant. As a child, Kahlo was raised in the same house that she was born in and was enrolled into a preparatoria being 1 of only 35 girls. She participated in sports such as boxing. When she was still in school, Frida joined a gang where she met her first lover “Alejandro Gomez Arias”. During the time she had been a part of the gang, she had witnessed several armed violences in the streets (Frida Biography). Due to multiple illnesses and an accident, Frida’s life was spent mostly bedridden and in a wheelchair. She contracted polio at age 6, and used long skirts to cover her limp leg. She also suffered from Spina Bifida, “a congenital disease that could have affected both spinal and leg development.” At age 18, during 1925, Kahlo was involved in a nearly fatal accident where a trolley hit a bus she had been riding. During this accident she was impaled by a handrail through her abdomen, fractured her collarbone and two ribs, her right leg was broken in 11 places, her right foot was crushed, her shoulder had been dislocated, and her back and pelvis were broken. Surgeries were conducted throughout the rest of her life to try and correct the several problems but mostly only helped temporarily or insignificantly. Over the course of her life, she had undergone over 30 surgeries, 7 to her spine which she spent 9 months in the hospital for (Frida Biography and Women’s History). Records were found from Frida’s doctor’s files that said she was unable to have children and had one abortion and miscarried a few years later because of the bus accident (The Guardian). Guillermo Kahlo, Frida’s father, had influenced her to become a painter from a young age but her career had never fully flourished until she met future husband Diego Rivera.
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Kahlo was mostly influenced by traumatic experiences during her childhood and adulthood and her national identity. Personal tragedies were used in many of her paintings that are said to reveal “a disturbing and realistic type of art.” Paintings by Kahlo frequently included emotionally abusive husband Diego Rivera. Art historians mostly refer to Frida Kahlo as a surrealistic artist but Kahlo had always rejected the title claiming “They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.” Later in life Frida had to rely on painkillers that affected the quality of her work (The Art Story). During 1953, Lola Alvarez Bravo organized Frida’s first solo exhibition of Frida’s work. Frida had to attend the exhibition in her bed because her right leg was amputated above the knee. In 1954, Kahlo caught pneumonia and took part in a demonstration against North American intervention in Guatemala even after her doctor had strongly protested her attendance. The Marriage between Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo was extremely unhealthy.Frida met Diego while she was an art student and though he was previously married, Diego and Frida had had a long affair before Diego and his previous wife had divorced. They were officially married in 1929. The marriage had a “temper” and there were countless times when both of them had cheated on each other. Frida and Diego divorced in 1939, 10 years after being married but they decided to remarry only a year after their divorce. There were 3 pregnancies during their relationship and all 3 had failed. The 3rd pregnancy ended in 1934 from “Inflation of the ovaries” and Frida suffered
Kahlo was mostly influenced by traumatic experiences during her childhood and adulthood and her national identity. Personal tragedies were used in many of her paintings that are said to reveal “a disturbing and realistic type of art.” Paintings by Kahlo frequently included emotionally abusive husband Diego Rivera. Art historians mostly refer to Frida Kahlo as a surrealistic artist but Kahlo had always rejected the title claiming “They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.” Later in life Frida had to rely on painkillers that affected the quality of her work (The Art Story). During 1953, Lola Alvarez Bravo organized Frida’s first solo exhibition of Frida’s work. Frida had to attend the exhibition in her bed because her right leg was amputated above the knee. In 1954, Kahlo caught pneumonia and took part in a demonstration against North American intervention in Guatemala even after her doctor had strongly protested her attendance. The Marriage between Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo was extremely unhealthy.Frida met Diego while she was an art student and though he was previously married, Diego and Frida had had a long affair before Diego and his previous wife had divorced. They were officially married in 1929. The marriage had a “temper” and there were countless times when both of them had cheated on each other. Frida and Diego divorced in 1939, 10 years after being married but they decided to remarry only a year after their divorce. There were 3 pregnancies during their relationship and all 3 had failed. The 3rd pregnancy ended in 1934 from “Inflation of the ovaries” and Frida suffered