Frida Kahlo is a famous Mexican artist who revolutionized the long male-dominated art industry. Well known for her self-portraits, Kahlo was able to mix aspects of herself that were both fantasy and real.
Kahlo was born on July 6th, 1907. As a child, she was disabled by Polio which caused her to have a right leg that was slightly smaller than her left. Even at a young age, she started wearing longer skirts to cover up her right leg. She was involved in a bus accident at the age of 18 and severely injured her spine and pelvis. Barely surviving, Kahlo had lifelong chronic pain afterwards, and was forced to wear medical braces. Right after the bus incident, she was forced to stay in a hospital bed for months, and her father installed a special canvas for her to paint along with a mirror above her to allow her to look at herself. She drew about her pain and nature along with portraits that depicted her mental and physical condition. Her paintings portrayed a very real emotion and feeling while having very unrealistic drawings.
Kahlo also had an interest in politics and joined the Communist Mexican Party, which led her to meet fellow Mexican painter Diego Rivera. They got married in 1929, even with the 20-year age gap. Throughout the early 1930’s, they journeyed all across Mexico and the US. Kahlo drew many self-portraits that showed Mexican culture as well as pre-Columbian and Catholic beliefs.
Kahlo and Diego’s marriage was life long, but it was filled with infidelity. Both had numerous affairs and Diego even had an affair with Kahlo’s sister. At that point, Kahlo felt betrayed and angry, fleeing to the US. Diego had already planned the divorce papers and they divorced that year. Kahlo’s art gained popularity this year, and her art was even bought by the Louver. Andre Breton, a surrealist artist said her art was, “like a ribbon around a bomb.” Throughout the year that they were divorced, she started the drawing of her most famous art piece, “Two Fridas”.
In this self-portrait, she depicted herself as two halves, with one wearing Victorian style clothes and a visible broken heart, which was bleeding onto the white dress. Her other half is wearing Mexican style clothes and has a full heart. Both hearts are connected by an artery. The Fridas symbolize the sides of her that Diego liked and disliked. Diego disliked the Victorian Frida and liked the Mexican Frida. Victorian Frida’s broken heart represented her pain from what she had to endure in the past, and her success without Diego. The other Frida represents her patriotic side, who supports Mexican culture. Fortunately, one year later, they remarried.
Kalho’s tragic life story gained huge popularity after her death and has many interpretations. The Broadway show being produced by Valentina Berger is coming in 2024 and is aiming to put their unique spin onto her upbringing. It features Mexican songs by Mexican composer Jamie Lozano, and lyrics by the playwright Neena Beber. The synopsis reads, “grounded by the rollercoaster of romance between the artist and her great love, Diego Rivera, Frida will be a full-throated celebration of Kahlo’s joyous spirit of creativity and unmatched gift for transforming physical and emotional pain into breathtaking beauty.”
The Broadway show follows her journey from Mexico City to Paris and New York. Frida’s life is usually portrayed as tragic and sorrowful, but Berger thinks that Frida really loved life, “she was really, really fun. That’s what we want to portray. I used to have a sad view of Frida, like, ‘Oh, the poor woman.’ Now, knowing how she was so smart and so clever, I look up to her.”
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxKR2cHmlPY&ab_channel=GreatArtExplained
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/07/26/frida-kahlo-musical-broadway
Kahlo was born on July 6th, 1907. As a child, she was disabled by Polio which caused her to have a right leg that was slightly smaller than her left. Even at a young age, she started wearing longer skirts to cover up her right leg. She was involved in a bus accident at the age of 18 and severely injured her spine and pelvis. Barely surviving, Kahlo had lifelong chronic pain afterwards, and was forced to wear medical braces. Right after the bus incident, she was forced to stay in a hospital bed for months, and her father installed a special canvas for her to paint along with a mirror above her to allow her to look at herself. She drew about her pain and nature along with portraits that depicted her mental and physical condition. Her paintings portrayed a very real emotion and feeling while having very unrealistic drawings.
Kahlo also had an interest in politics and joined the Communist Mexican Party, which led her to meet fellow Mexican painter Diego Rivera. They got married in 1929, even with the 20-year age gap. Throughout the early 1930’s, they journeyed all across Mexico and the US. Kahlo drew many self-portraits that showed Mexican culture as well as pre-Columbian and Catholic beliefs.
Kahlo and Diego’s marriage was life long, but it was filled with infidelity. Both had numerous affairs and Diego even had an affair with Kahlo’s sister. At that point, Kahlo felt betrayed and angry, fleeing to the US. Diego had already planned the divorce papers and they divorced that year. Kahlo’s art gained popularity this year, and her art was even bought by the Louver. Andre Breton, a surrealist artist said her art was, “like a ribbon around a bomb.” Throughout the year that they were divorced, she started the drawing of her most famous art piece, “Two Fridas”.
In this self-portrait, she depicted herself as two halves, with one wearing Victorian style clothes and a visible broken heart, which was bleeding onto the white dress. Her other half is wearing Mexican style clothes and has a full heart. Both hearts are connected by an artery. The Fridas symbolize the sides of her that Diego liked and disliked. Diego disliked the Victorian Frida and liked the Mexican Frida. Victorian Frida’s broken heart represented her pain from what she had to endure in the past, and her success without Diego. The other Frida represents her patriotic side, who supports Mexican culture. Fortunately, one year later, they remarried.
Kalho’s tragic life story gained huge popularity after her death and has many interpretations. The Broadway show being produced by Valentina Berger is coming in 2024 and is aiming to put their unique spin onto her upbringing. It features Mexican songs by Mexican composer Jamie Lozano, and lyrics by the playwright Neena Beber. The synopsis reads, “grounded by the rollercoaster of romance between the artist and her great love, Diego Rivera, Frida will be a full-throated celebration of Kahlo’s joyous spirit of creativity and unmatched gift for transforming physical and emotional pain into breathtaking beauty.”
The Broadway show follows her journey from Mexico City to Paris and New York. Frida’s life is usually portrayed as tragic and sorrowful, but Berger thinks that Frida really loved life, “she was really, really fun. That’s what we want to portray. I used to have a sad view of Frida, like, ‘Oh, the poor woman.’ Now, knowing how she was so smart and so clever, I look up to her.”
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxKR2cHmlPY&ab_channel=GreatArtExplained
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/07/26/frida-kahlo-musical-broadway