CAE - Artist Focus (Lesson)
Artist Focus: Frida Kahlo
One of the most prolific portrait artists of the 20th century is Frida Kahlo. She was able to express her pain, anger, joy, and culture through her narrative portraits. By studying her work, we can use her influence in our own expressive portraits.
Photo of Frida Kahlo by Nikolas Murray, 1939.
Mexican Painter
Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in the house of her parents, known as La Casa Azul (The Blue House), in Coyoacan, Mexico. Frida always claimed to be born in 1910, the year of the outbreak of the Mexican revolution, so that people could directly associate her with the modern Mexico. Her life was marked by physical suffering, starting with the polio contracted at the age of five and worsened by her life-dominating event which occurred in 1925. A bus accident caused severe injuries to her body owing to a pole that pierced her from the stomach to the pelvis.
Kahlo, Frida. The Two Fridas (detail). Oil on canvas, 1939.
Chronicler of Her History
The Mexican artist made dozens of self-portraits from her teenage years onward, images that have cemented the painter’s face—with her prominent black unibrow, slight mustache, and rosy cheeks and lips—into the cultural consciousness. She often painted herself among the tropical plants and animals of her native country, a nod to her proud Chicana heritage, as in Self-Portrait with Bonito (1941); other times, she is portrayed within simplistic interiors, like Itzcuintli Dog with Me (1938).
Self-Portrait with Bonito. Oil on canvas. 1941.
Master of Narrative Portraits
Kahlo also used self-portraiture to communicate her suffering. She endured a lifetime of chronic pain as a result of falling victim to a near-fatal bus accident at age 18. Surrealistic works like The Broken Column (1944) convey her anguish: Metal nails puncture the crying artist’s skin, while a column crumbles within her body—a reference to the iron handrail that impaled her nearly 20 years earlier.
Kahlo, Frida. Broken Column (detail). Oil on canvas, 1944.
Solo Show As A Mexican Artist
In 1941, the Mexican government commissioned Kahlo to paint five portraits of famous Mexican women, but she was unable to complete the job. That year, she lost her loving father and continued to struggle with chronic health issues. Despite her personal difficulties, her work grew in popularity and was featured in a number of group shows at this time.
Kahlo had her first solo exhibition in Mexico in 1953. Kahlo attended the inauguration of the show despite being bedridden at the time. Kahlo arrived by ambulance and spent the evening in a four-poster bed built up in the gallery exclusively for her, talking and rejoicing with the event's participants.
Kahlo, Frida. Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird. Oil on canvas, 1940.
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