women in art, part two: surrealist painter frida kahlo - el arte no es un sueño

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briefly

Frida Kahlo's art is as intense as the Mexican sun and as distinct as her brows. Although she taught herself to paint while recuperating from injuries she sustained in a bus accident, Kahlo was influenced by her husband, muralist Diego Rivera. As can be seen from her body of work, she embraced Rivera's color technique, particularly in employing simplified, bold color areas as well as his overall style that could be described as 'naive'. And like her husband, Kahlo also championed her Mexican identity in her art - using subject matter and artistic implements derived from the folk art and archaeology of her native country. But while Rivera depicted scenes of Mexican life through portraits and landscapes, in the hopes of educating his people of their country's historied past, Kahlo bared her Mexican soul on the canvas. She had to be her own master.

Kahlo primarily depicted her most intimate experiences, repeatedly directing her brush to the painful aspects of her life using fantastical, graphic and sometimes shocking imagery to deliver her meaning. The turbulence that was her married life she portrayed in self-portraits with her in a state of disconsolation - tears manifested - or appearing to be physically damaged. Her sorrow over her inability to bear children was also a frequent subject matter with one painting, 'Henry Ford Hospital' (see below) showing her on a hospital bed underneath a machine. And the disintegration of her health did not escape the canvas either. In 'The Broken Column' (see below) she painted herself wearing a metal brace while her open body reveals a broken column where her spine should be.

Although Kahlo is gererally regarded as a Surrealist, she was obviously not interested in the Surrealists' interest in psychology and the dream world and at one point even stated "They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality" while vehemently denying that she had ever been a Surrealist. She didn't even want to be compared to them.

Kahlo died in her sleep on July 13, 1954. It was ruled that she died of pulmonary embolism. However, many believe that she committed suicide. And fanning that flame is her last diary entry which reads:

                "Espero alegre la salida - y espero no volver jamás - FRIDA".

                "I hope the exit is joyful - and I hope never to return - FRIDA"

timeline

• 1907— Frida Kahlo was born (Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón) on July 6 to photographer Guillermo and his wife Matilda in the Mexican suburb of Coyoacán.

• 1913— Kahlo was stricken with polio which left her with a limp.

• 1922— Kahlo went into the National Preparatory School where she got involved in leftist politics and joined the group called Los Cachucas.

• 1925— Kahlo sustained serious bodily injuries as a result of a bus accident. The injuries to her spine, pelvis and right leg resulted to her having had to undergo 30 operations in her lifetime.

• 1926— Kahlo started painting while recovering from the accident. Her "Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress" (see below) was the first of many self-portraits to come.

• 1929 — Kahlo met and married Mexican painter Diego Rivera.

• 1930 — Kahlo and Rivera left Mexico for San Francisco.

• 1932— Kahlo and Rivera moved to Detroit, Michigan where Rivera painted murals for the Detroit Museum. She had a miscarriage and painted some of her first graphic works including 'My Birth' (see below). Matilda Kahlo died.

• 1933— Kahlo and Rivera moved back to Mexico.

• 1934 — Kahlo and Rivera had extramarital affairs; Rivera with Kahlo's younger sister, Cristina; Kahlo with both men and women.

• 1937— Kahlo had an affair with Russian revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky. She became friends with painter Pablo Picasso, writer Andre Breton and the Rockefeller family.

• 1938— Kahlo was called a "surrealist painter" by Breton. He helped her to have a show at the Julian Levy Gallery in New York

• 1939— Kahlo and Rivera divorced.

• 1940 — Rivera left for San Francisco again. Kahlo followed him and they remarried.

• 1941 — Guillermo Kahlo died. Kahlo and Rivera went back to Coyoacán.

• 1942— Kahlo began teaching art and her students were called "Fridos." She had to quit teaching due to the numerous operations she had to undergo. She went back to painting.

• 1950 — Kahlo's health worsened and she was confined for a year in a hospital in Mexico City.

• 1953— Kahlo had her first solo exhibition in Mexico - the only exhibition held in her native country during her lifetime - and she attended consigned to a stretcher. Towards the end of the year, her right leg was amputated (below the knee) due to gangrene.

• 1954— Kahlo made her last public appearance at a political demonstration. She died on July 13 in her sleep. Her death death was due to pulmonary embolism although some believe she committed suicide.

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she said

"Feet, why do I need them if I have wings to fly?"

"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint."

"I drank to drown my pain, but the damned pain learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good behavior."

"I hope the leaving is joyful; and I hope never to return."

"I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration."

“I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.”

"I think that little by little I'll be able to solve my problems and survive."

“There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.”

" I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best."

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