FRIDA KAHLO

FRIDA KAHLO

“I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone because I am the person I know best”

Frida Kahlo was a famous and controversial Mexican painter who is best known for her self-portrait. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition and she is still admires as a feminist icon.

She was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacan, Mexico city.  Kahlo`s life began and ended in Mexico city in her famous home known as the blue house.  At the age of six, Frida contracted Polio which caused her right leg to appear much thinner that the other, she suffered lifelong health problems many of which derived from a traffic accident she experienced as a teenager these issue are represented in her work.

Kahlo 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 and her love of traditional and colorful clothes and jewelry.

Her work has also been described as “surrealist” one of her most famous and largest work was the two Fridas (1939). Of her 143 painting, 55 are self-portrait which often incorporates symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds.

Kahlo had a volatile marriage with the famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera who has a great influence on frida´s painting style; Frida had always admired Diego on his work.

Frida Kahlo died on July 13, 1954, since her death Kahlo´s fame as an artist has only grown, her beloved blue house was opened as a museum in 1958

Today, more than half a century after her death, her paintings fetch more money than any other female artist. A visit to the Museo Frida Kahlo is like taking a step back in time.