FRIDA KAHLO

Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacan, Mexico City, Mexico. Frida Kahlo had poor health as a child, contracting polio at the age of 6 which caused her right leg and foot to grow thinner than her left. This left her with a limp that she would usually wear long skirts to cover. This was her early introduction to physical and emotional trauma but, unfortunately, it would only get worse for her. In 1922, Kahlo was seriously injured when the bus she was traveling on collided with a streetcar and was impaled by a steel handrail through her hip. Her spine and pelvis fractured and Frida was left with all these physical scars as well as psychological ones. Left in a full body cast following this incident, Frida decided to do what she could: paint. Kahlo used this new found talent as an outlet for self expression and healing. 

 

Her paintings depicted her feelings about multiple traumatic and devastating incidents in her life such as the miscarriages she had and her desire to have a child when her accident left her unable to. Many other pieces of hers are about similar traumatic or heartbreaking things such as The Broken Column which is about the chronic pain that she had to live with every single day. Despite her physical and mental struggles, Kahlo’s work was greatly successful, befriending some of the most influential artists of the time like Pablo Picasso. Unfortunately, Kahlo’s condition worsened until she eventually died about one week after her 47th birthday, but she has gained even more popularity since then. Today she is known as one of Mexico's greatest artists and an icon of female strength and creativity.