06.07.1907 – 13.07.1954
Painter, Mexican
Frida Kahlo is considered one of Mexico’s greatest artists. She began painting during a long period of bed rest after a traffic accident, when, at the age of 15, she was a passenger on a bus that collided with a tram. She was seriously injured—among other things by a steel handrail that pierced her hip and caused fractures to her spine. The accident left her in great pain, both physically and psychologically, for the rest of her life. Her parents had an easel constructed and mirrors installed so that she could paint in bed—often self-portraits.
Six years later, she showed some of her work to her famous compatriot, the artist Diego Rivera, to obtain his assessment of her work. He was impressed and encouraged her to continue. The following year, they married. It was a turbulent marriage over 25 years, including a brief divorce. Diego Rivera had many affairs, and after a few years Frida Kahlo also saw other men and women. They were both politically active communists.
Frida Kahlo lived a life that defied the era’s view of women, and through her art she expressed her physical challenges and pain. Her fame has grown since her death at just 47 years of age. During her lifetime, in Mexico she was best known as Diego Rivera’s wife. Now she is world-famous, and Diego Rivera is known as her husband.
She had a style of painting entirely her own. Like the German artist Paula Modersohn-Becker, she uncompromisingly maintained her powerful expression despite the resistance of her contemporaries, yet to the acclaim of posterity. This courage has greatly inspired me to find my own path and form of expression.
