Frida Kahlo Analysis

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican surrealist artist born on July 6th 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico. Kahlo is best known for her self-portraits that were usually created with the purpose of depicting her physical and mental struggles. Kahlo is also known as one of the first feminist icons. Her unconventional characteristic and behaviour, that would have been seen as rebellious in the early 1900’s, inspired countless other female artists and influenced feminist movements around the world.

One of the most significant events in Kahlo’s life was a nearly fatal accident in 1925, when she was 18 years old. This event, and the pain that it caused, is what made Kahlo start painting as a career and influence many artworks throughout her life. She had injuries to her right leg, pelvis, and spinal column, partially paralysing her. Kahlo had approximately 30 different surgeries and her injuries caused chronic pain that she had to live with for the rest of her life. Kahlo turned to painting as a way to deal with the pain and express what she was feeling. An example of this is a piece called ‘The Broken Column’ (1994).
This painting shows Kahlo wearing a steel back
When they first met, Kalho showed Rivera some of her paintings such as ‘Self-Portrait In a Velvet Dress’ (1926), Rivera gave Kahlo advice on how she could improve her works and develop originality. This advice from Rivera influenced Kalho’s artistic style by causing her to move away from the gloomy Renaissance-like portraits and develop her own unique and unconventional style of painting. Frida and Diego got married on August 21st, 1929. They had a tumultuous relationship ruled by infidelity. For this reason, Rivera also influenced Kahlo in a negative way and became a subject for many of her works. Her piece ‘Memory’ (1937) was created to express the heartbreak that she suffered after learning of her husbands affair with her younger