Frida Kahlo Biography Essay

People may refer to Frida Kahlo as the lady with the unibrow, but others refer to her as one the greatest Mexican painters. She was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyocoan Mexico. When she was about 6 she was diagnosed with polio which is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems, or even death. (Crosta 1) Due to polio she was bedridden for 9 months. Frida attended the National Preparatory School where she first noticed Diego Rivera who is a famous muralist. At this time she fell in love with another man Alejandro Gomez Arias. She and Alejandro were on a trip when a monumental moment happened which will change her life forever…. (Frida Kahlo Biography 1)

It showed her distaste of the United States in its industrial period which seemed very dirty and dull with the beauty of her beloved homeland with its vibrant colors and Aztec ruins. Another great painting she did was called “My Dress Hangs Here”. This painting, done during the Great Depression, also showed how unhappy Frida was in New York City. The dress alone without Frida in it shows of the way she felt wasn’t there and didn’t belong. It also shows how she saw America in its industrialism with all the big factory buildings and the trash can filled with over flowing trash. Frida did not like the fact that she and other famous people were still having parties and hanging out like nothing was happening. This made her long for her Mexico even more.

In this essay, I will be discussing how two famous artists from different times and cultures have created aesthetic qualities in artworks, communicated ideas and developed styles. Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso have been chosen to express two very different art styles and how both artists use elements and principles to create a distinct quality artwork. Although Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso come from different parts of the world and have different cultural backgrounds, both artists have practiced and explored portraiture as a way of making art.

Frida was a very skilled painter who did mainly self-portraits where she expressed her feelings and portrayed herself in unconventional ways. Frida would take some of the events of her life and paint them. For example, Frida painted the auto accident she was in that left her with traumatizing pain, the miscarriages she suffered as a result of the accident, the heartbreak she

The monkey in the Mexican mythology, it is a symbol of lust and pervasion, but she didn’t use it like that. Instead, she used it to symbolize protection and tenderness. When she was merely eleven she was diagnosed with polio, resulting in the crippling of her right leg leaving it a bit shorter and thinner than the left leg. Considering she was a survivor of polio she originally wanted to attend pre-med school, becoming an artist was nothing she ever planned to do. Frida simply became an artist by default when she was 18 due to a freak accident that left her immobilized for long periods of time. Unfortunately many surgeries followed and she began painting more and more to keep herself busy while she couldn’t move around much. At the age of 18 Frida had already experienced a great deal of pain in life and challenging health issues. Frida is known for painting an abundance of self-portraits which wasn’t the norm at that time. Frida was before her time in many ways making her exceptionally different from other women, she enjoyed telling dirty jokes, smoking, and slamming down tequila. This was intriguing to many and she was often questioned as to why she did this. Frida was so comfortable in doing so because she spent so much time alone, in

Aside from a few art classes in high school and browsing through art books from her father 's collection, Frida had no formal training in the arts. As Frida developed her artistic skills, her paintings evolved into her own unique style, heavily influenced by other people, artists, cultures

Frida Kahlo's influence still lingers around the world. Even with Frida dead for almost two decades, she is still celebrated and thought of as an idol. Frida Kahlo was an artist in many different ways. Besides Frida's incredible talent to paint surrealist thoughts and emotions on canvas, she also was and artist in her mind and body. Frida's attire of traditional Mexican clothing, which consisted of long, colorful dresses and exotic jewelry, and her thick connection eyebrows, became her trademark. To the public, Frida Kahlo appeared to be full of spirit and joy. She walked through life happily, with a smile glued to her face. However, her feelings of anguish, anger, unhappiness of her painful miscarriages, and

Frida grew up looking at her father’s photographs. They helped her learn about the Mexico history, art, and architecture. Frida wasnt learn about history and art she want to learn about the nature and the science. Frida always was bringing home rock, insects,plants and even small animals. Frida mother did not alway like it but her father think it was fantastic because he want her to learn more thing as much as she can.

Frida Kahlo is a world-renowned Mexican painter known for her shocking self-portaits filled with painful imagery. Her artwork was seen by many as surrealist and socialist, but she refused the labels put on herself. Until today, her works have been able to exude the same playful and wild feel as before (Fisher n.p). Her legacy as a painter has attracted prominent people like Madonna who has confessed her admiration for the painter. Not only that but fashion designers are frequently inspired by her iconic Tijuana dresses while her paintings have been priced at more than three million dollars (Bauer 115).

Her self-portraits have been described as being surreal, but Frida answered such comments with, "They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn’t. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.”

Throughout her career, Frida had shown many different themes of her life through her paintings. It seems clear, through analyzation of her paintings, that Frida lived something of a double life. Frida paints herself in distinctly different ways at times, sometimes she is a beautiful woman with strength like iron, and sometimes she is a frail damsel who has been broken already and will be broken again. Contrasting paintings include Self Portrait with Monkeys (Kahlo, 1) and Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace, Diego and I (Kahlo, 1) and The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Me, Diego, and Mr. Xolotl (Kahlo, 1). All of these paintings show that not only is there a contrast in her personality, in fact, Frida’s is actually two different people, as she paints it.

The painting shows two different personalities, one in traditional Tehuana dress with a broken heart who is sitting next to the other, a modern European dressed Frida Kahlo. According to Amy Stechler, a director from PBS, she describes the artwork as a, “modern dressed Frida, blood drips onto her crisp white dress, a possible reminder of her abortions, miscarriages and many surgeries, as well as the physical pain felt at the loss of Rivera”(Stechler). During her previous years, Kahlo was not able bear a child due to the accident leaving her infertile. In her traditional Mexican formal wear, Kahlo carries an egg shaped locket of Rivera’s picture on her lap along with a long red vein that resembles an umbilical cord.

Frida Kahlo´s image has been exploited for several years, now a days it is quite easy to find: rings, phone cases, t-shirts, among several other products, all with images of Frida´s art. As a result, this got me wondering on, what made this Mexican artist worthy of such success? What did she do that was considered so important? There are many answers to those questions because Frida Kahlo made a significant impact in the world not only because of her artistic style but also, with her way of living.

Frida Kahlo was a bright young woman who had no intentions of being a famous artist. At first, she studied medicine at the national preparatory school with dreams of becoming a famous doctor. Tragically on September 17,1925 on her way

Frida's artwork has always interested me in many ways. Her paintings are so much more than self-portraits and surrealism. She illustrates her life and the struggles she goes through, even if most would like to ignore the darker aspects of life. The theme of suffering permeates Frida’s self-portraits and often explicitly comprises their subject matter. She visually depicts physical and psychological struggles through the distortions of her body, which is fragmented, doubled, turned inside-out, and merged with non-human elements. She shows me that I can be strong through life even when I'm hurting physically and emotionally. Frida challenged herself and her