Frida Kahlo Short Biography

Intro

“I will write to you with my eyes …” said Frida Kahlo. Frida Kahlo is a wonderful artist with natural born talent. Her two works that I choose are absolutely beautiful pisces and I think they are priceless paintings. Frida Kahlo is the number one woman artist in my mind and so are her to two works that I think are number one as well.

Biography

Frida Kahlo’s full name was actually Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon and her birthdate is July 6, 1907. Frida Kahlo has so much different heritage that you could call her an mixed child. Her father was a german descendant man who had decided to move to Mexico at the age of nineteen.While Frida’s mother was a descendant of Indian and Spanish blood. She had a very strange mix of blood indeed.

Kahlo grew up in the house that she was born and this house is later referred to as the blue house. She had two older sister one was named after their mother (Matilda). She also had a younger sister named Cristina born a year after.

Around the age of six she fell terribly illl and needed to stay in bed for nine months. After her recovery she was inspired to play sports like soccer, swimming, and even wrestling as a form of rehabilitation. This is because the disease had an effect on her right leg and foot. I just want you tot keep in mind that these were highly unusual things for a girl to do at this time.

In 1922 she enrolled in the National Proprietary School and she was one of the few female students to attend the the school. The same year she met Diego Rivera (soon to be husband) while he was working on a project for the school. She loved to watch as Diego Rivera created the mural called The Creation.

When in school she hung out with politically and intelligent well-minded people. She got romantically involved with one called Alejandro Gomez Arias. On September 19 1925 she had a very terrible accident. She was riding in a bus with Gomez when it hit a street car and she was impaled by a steel handrail. It went through her hip and out the other side. As a result she suffered multiple injuries. She stayed at Red Cross Hospital for several weeks.

Frida connected again with Rivera again in 1928. She had asked him to check out her work and he motivated her. Soon they became romantically involved with one another. Although her mom’s rejection of the couple, Frida and Diego got married about a year later. They moved to New York City but only for an artwork show Frida had. Soon after the couple moved to Detroit from a job Rivera acquired.

In 1932, Frida added more lifelike and uncanny elements to her artwork. For example her painting named Henry Ford Hospital, displayed her naked in a hospital bed while connected to surrounding floating objects by veins. These surrounding objects were a fetus, flower, pelvis and a snail. This describes the feelings she had when she had her second miscarriage.

A year later Frida is living in New York City with her husband. Diego was employed by Nelson Rockefeller to create a mural called Man at the Crossroads. Rivera tried to use a communist leader in his work but Nelson stopped him his tracks and made him start over. After this the couple was forced to go back to San Angel , Mexico.
Frida’s and Rivera’s marriage was not a peculiar one.

They each had separate homes and studios lot themselves. Now Diego had so many affairs and one of them was with Fridas sister Cristina. Frida was so sad she cut off her long hair to show her sorrow from the betrayal. She has long since wanted to bear children but could not due to the injury from the bus accident. Her heart was broken when she experienced another miscarriage in 1934. Frida also had an affair with Leon Trotsky who just happened to be temporarily staying in her home.

She and Rivera got divorced in 1939 and she painted one of her most famous paintings The Two Fridas. They remarried about a year later. The second marriage had not a single difference from the first one. They still kept there separate lives and houses. Both of them were still disloyal and had a few affairs. So the marriage was not what you called a honest one.

Frida received an employment from the Mexican government to paint five portraits of important Mexican women in 1941. Sadly she could not finish her job because her father had recently passed away and she was having a hard time dealing with her chronic health problems. Despite her losses her popularity continued to grow and was widely shown to numerous groups in this

time.

In the year of 1944 Frida painted one of her most famous portraits The Broken Column. In this painting Frida displayed her physical and daily challenges by her art. During that times she had a couple of surgeries and had to were special corsets for the back of her spine. She sought lots of treatment for her chronic pain but nothing ever worked out for her.

Her health condition began to worsen in the 1950s and from there on degraded. That same year she was diagnosed with gangrene in her right foot. The next year she was bedridden for the next nine months and had to stay in the hospital. She also had to take multiply surgeries.

A few days before she died on July, 19, 1954 she wrote in her dairy: “I hope the exit is joyful -and I hope never to return - Frida”. Nobody knows the exact cause of her death but some might think it might have been pulmonary embolism. Later in Rivera’s autobiography he writes that the day that she died was the saddest day of his life.The Two Fridas

The Two Fridas was painted in 1939 after the divorce with Diego rivera her husband.

It was made with oil and a canvas. This painting is believed to display fridas feelings at the time of the divorce. It looks like one is traditionally dressed and the other is not. It is a representation of loss and it just gives off a very lonesome feeling. This painting uses the element of art called texture to create an attraction to the piece. Contrast is a principle of design and that is exactly what is used here. Her two figures become the center of attention. These stand out because of the dark cloudy background which is mostly contrasted with the white figures. There is also balance and symmetry in Kahlo’s painting too. She chooses to put the two figures side by side to create symmetry by repeating the figures. She uses these elements help convey a mood. She uses them to create a mood by instead of just one element working by itself she uses them all so that they all could work together. I think the purpose of this piece was to show the sorrow and despair she felt when her husband diego had an affair and they had to file a divorce. I truly think the artist was trying to say that she was know truly alone and that she did not have anyone. This painting feels as if two worlds have crashed. The one who was loved by Diego and the one who was not. I choose this artist because I knew that she could make magnificent things like this actually

happen.

Marxism Will Give Health to the Sick

Marxism Will Give Health to the Sick was painted in 1954. She painted oil onto a canvas.This painting was made because Frida accepted the utopian belief that political conventions could actually free her. It looks like a hand is strangling uncle same and who looks like he represents the United States. I believe the Frida was furious because the united states began the use and development of nuclear weapons.The dove symbolizes peace for all. This painting consists of vibrant color, decorative elements and lots of icons. It also has a lot of dramatic colors and contrast. It reveals directness of emotion and vivid and simplified forms.The artist uses these all to create this one big picture. All of this scenery helps create a mood of chaos and anger. It also shows the wings of peace. the purpose of making this peace was because of the nuclear war heads america was developing at the time. I suggest the artist was trying to say that she wanted to stop this immediately and she would stop at nothing to succeed.

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Conclusion
Frida Kahlo was very indigenous to her country. You could tell she obviously a faithful person holding lots of passion for her line of work. Each and every one of her paintings made you feel as if you were reliving her past experiences. This was more than enough for me to pick a revolutionist like Frida Kahlo. She had undoubtedly the most unique way of art. Not to mention the quality of her work was priceless. It felt as if she always put a hidden meaning in her paintings.

Her paintings always had an ire feeling to them and I think that is exactly what was so great about them in the first place.she always gave a great story along with her paintings and thats just what made them what they are today. Her paintings always let you in to her personal life. She always shared her secrets with the world as if she had nothing to hide.

Her paintings felt like they had a lot go thought poured into them. She was an even better person with all that she had to go through. She divorced with her husband stayed strong. Got into a bus accident stayed strong. Finally amputated her right leg and guess what? She still remained very collected.

This artist is the most influential women artist that I know. She has influenced thousands and thousands of people because of what she did over her lifetime. Women all over the world think of her as one of the people that encouraged women rights. She is probably the main factor of todays society.

She also created two beautiful paintings which in my mind are the best. To start off with The Two Fridas. It displayed a deep factor of betrayal and loneliness. Showing the difference between the Frida he loved and the one he didn't .
The other is Marxism Will Give Health to the Sick because of the exquisite detail that went into the painting. It displayed anger and justice. Showing the passion she has for justice and peace.