All About Frida Kahlo

Summary:

Frida Kahlo, born and raised in Coyoacán, Mexico, experienced a turbulent childhood marked by polio, her father’s epilepsy, the Mexican civil war, and a near-fatal trolley accident that initiated her painting career. Her artwork, heavily influenced by her physical and emotional pain, failed pregnancies, and tumultuous marriage with Diego Rivera, employs a distinctive style characterized by intimate self-portraits filled with symbolism, surrealism, colour theory, and motifs that depict her life stories and emotions. Kahlo’s themes often revolve around pain, identity, relationships, religion, and death. She defied traditional female gender roles in Mexican society, appearing sometimes in masculine attire, but also embracing her femininity, as seen in her artwork ‘The Two Fridas’. Her innovative approach to self-portraiture extended beyond physical appearance, incorporating surrealism and symbolism to convey her inner world and experiences. Kahlo’s personal worldview is beautifully summarized in her quotes, like “Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?” and “I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.”

Excerpt:

All About Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo Questions

1. Provide an overview of Frida Kahlo’s childhood
– Lived in Coyoacén
– Had a large family
– Mother was mostly Indian, and father was Jewish
– She had Polio at the age of six
– Her father had epilepsy
– She was her father’s favourite, and he was a photographer
– She was unique and wanted the dress like a boy
– Mexican civil wars/revolution
– At 15, she went to a national prep school
– First meets Diego Rivera
– At 16, she fell in love with a boy at her school named Alejandro
– In her late teens, she was in a trolley accident that nearly killed her. This was when she started to paint

2. What are some significant life events that influenced Kahlo’s practice?
– The trolley accident
– Having Polio
– Loss of her Child
– Marrying/divorcing Diego

3. List some themes evident in Kahlo’s artworks
– Pain/injury
– Identity
– Relationships
– Emotions
– Religion
– Physical appearance
– Surrealism vs reality
– Gender
– Death/loss