Frida Kahlo’s Art Through a Biographical Study

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Analysis
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Frida Kahlo was a famous artist and master of surrealism, born in 1907 in Mexico. The Mexican artist’s extraordinarily lively and vivid biography is a fascinating story of rebellious art, romantic beliefs, eccentric love affairs, and endless physical suffering. After Kahlo’s death, not only canvases remained, but also burning lines of memoirs, illustrating the unbending will, infinite pain, and love that is not given to everyone. American feminists, lesbians, and gays consider Frida Kahlo their forerunner, and during the artist’s lifetime, even Andre Breton was counted among her camp. Frida was great and many-faced, and although more than half a century has passed since her death, admiration for this legendary woman has not faded to this day. The interest in the works and personality of Frida Kahlo turned out to be viable. Frida Kahlo was an extravagant and talented artist, and through all her creativity and work, themes of inner feelings and personal misfortunes have passed like a red thread.

Analysis

The Perspective of the Artist through a Biographical Study

Upbringing

Frida Kahlo has been used to fighting for herself since childhood, although nothing foreshadowed a hard life at her birth. It is known that Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón was born on July 6, 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico, and she was the third daughter of Guillermo Kahlo and Matilde Calderón y González (Doeden 8). The girl fell ill with polio at 6, after which she was left limp, and her right leg became deformed and weak (Doeden 9-10). The ordeal of the disease hardened Frida, who had grown up as a wayward child before. Thus, overcoming the pain, she played football with boys and went swimming and boxing classes. Furthermore, she suffered a severe car accident in her teens, after which she had to undergo numerous surgeries that affected her entire life. In this case, one should note that her paintings are a reflection of herself, and all her life, she painted, loved, had fun, and worried, overcoming physical pain.

Education

The illness and regular visits to medics formed the girl’s desire to become a doctor. At 15, she enrolled at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria and studied medicine (Doeden 11-12). However, the lack of formal art education did not prevent Kahlo from painting independently, relying on her taste and intuition. The education allowed her to apply medical knowledge in some paintings, for example, in “Frida and the Cesarean Operation” in 1932 (Souter 51). In this artwork, Frida tried to reproduce the aesthetics of the anatomical atlas because once she wanted to connect her life with the healthcare sphere.

Social and Historical Influences

The attributes of various social circles and historical epochs were reflected in the great artist’s paintings. The revolutionary spirit of twentieth-century Mexico, as well as Native American motifs, brought a combination of aesthetics and sufferings to Kahlo’s works. Thus, her works are full of symbols and fetishes, revealed through national traditions, and closely related to the Amerindian mythology of the pre-Hispanic period. Furthermore, Frida communicated with many well-known personalities based on shared views. She was a political activist who sympathized with communism; these interests were echoed in the plots of some of her works. Nonetheless, her husband, the famous muralist Diego Rivera, exerted the most significant influence on Frida Kahlo’s painting style.

Gender and Ethnicity in the Critical Acclaim

It is no secret that both the gender and ethnicity of Frida Kahlo played a significant role in the critical acclaim of her work and in no way prevented her from gaining fame and popularity. Through her artworks, she told the whole world clearly and vividly about the issues of choosing gender and her independence. The paintings of the Mexican artist have become illustrations of the deep world of a woman. Frida turned herself into a work of art, and her life story became a myth. In addition, she actively emphasized in the paintings that she identifies as a Mexican and is proud of her roots. Her paintings have become an explosive mixture of Mexican folk motifs and naive art in the spirit of French modernists. Unfortunately, she did not become financially successful, but critics’ reviews were friendly, laudatory reviews were often written in newspapers, and works by Frida Kahlo praised Picasso and Kandinsky (Souter 93). One of the paintings was even bought by the Louvre. Mostly, critics were fascinated by her, her image, and the originality of her paintings.

Connections to Other Modernists and Impacts

Indeed, Frida Kahlo had many connections with other modernist creators. For example, she was friends with artists such as Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian, and Pablo Picasso and married Diego Rivera. Furthermore, she admired the works of such modernists as Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, and Max Jacob. Having moved with her husband to the wildest and most revolutionary Morelos, Frida took over several concepts from the local modernist masters. She absorbed and adapted some ideas that became the basis of her future style. They include a lack of perspective, saturated and aggressive colors, national motifs, and a crazy combination of pre-Columbian and colonial styles. The influence of these persons can be seen in the magical art of Kahlo. Moreover, it was mentioned earlier that Frida Kahlo’s husband, Diego Rivera, in a sense, determined Frida’s manner, style, and technique of painting (Souter 5). Diego’s interest in the history and culture of Mexico changed not only Frida’s works but also her personality. In particular, Rivera created murals, and she was inspired by him.

Conclusion

Frida Kahlo was one of the most striking figures in twentieth-century art. Despite polio and a terrible accident, Frida managed to find herself and become one of the best artists in the world, maintaining fortitude until the last days. Her medical education and historical and social context significantly influenced her artworks. Moreover, Frida did not hide her origin and strongly emphasized femininity and Mexican roots in her paintings. In particular, she was associated with many personalities-modernists, which contributed to the development of Frida’s imagination, creativity, and exciting ideas.

Works Cited

Doeden, Matt. Frida Kahlo: Artist and Activist. Lerner Publications™, 2020.

Souter, Gerry. Frida Kahlo. Parkstone International, 2019.

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