Frida Kahlo
1907-1954
“weirdo”
“scheming”
“creepy”
“looks like a man…military kind of dude”
“she has a dark soul”
“lonely”
“serious…not very happy”
“mean & boring”
“scary”
“dark & sinister”
“unhappy”
“I don’t like the art. I don’t like her.”
“overwhelmed”
“passionate”
“beautiful”
“symbolic”
“angry”
“arrogant”
“multiple personalities”
“unibrow”
“disturbed”
“stiff”
“mean”
“judgmental”
“pain”
“empty”
“empty”
“sad”
“Ahhhh! Yuck!”
“mustache”
“abused”
“hurt”
“oppressed”
“determined”
“controlled”
“transvestite”
“wants to die”
“disturbed”
“unstable”
“depressing”
“ugly”
“so emo”
“strict”
“strict”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooYfnu8oueY
Childhood
1907*
Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderon is born on July 6th in Coyoacán, Mexico to Matilda and German-born Guillermo Kahlo, a photographer. Frida was very close to her father & maintained a strained relationship with her mother.
1913
She is stricken with polio and recovers after nine months. Frida is left with a smaller right leg and a limp.
She then attends primary school at Mexico's Colegio Alemán where she is nicknamed "peg-leg Frida".
School Life
1922 – 1924
Enrolls in a premedical program at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria in Mexico City.
Out of 2000 students, Frida is one of only 35 women accepted into the prestigious institution.
Joins a socialist-nationalistic group called Los Cachuchas. Frida soon begins dating Alejandro Gomez Arias, the leader of the group.
She also meets Mexican artist Diego Rivera, who is at the school to paint a mural.
Frida …was moved to mischief by Rivera. Although the amphitheater was off bounds to students while the artist was at work, she managed to slip in without being caught. She stole food out of his lunch basket. Once she soaped the stairway that descend from the amphitheater stage where he was painting, and then hid behind a pillar to watch. But Rivera’s way of walking was slow and measured; placing on foot carefully before the other, he moved as if suspended in a liquid medium and never fell. The next day, however, Professor Antonio Caso tumbled down the same stairs. A sucession of beautiful models accompanied Rivera on the scaffold. One was his mistress, Lupe Marin (he married her in 1922). Another model was…Nahui Olin… Frida liked to hide in the dark doorway, and if Lupe was on the scaffold, she would call out: “Hey, Diego, here comes Nahui!” Or when no one was with him and she saw Lupe arriving, she would whisper loudly, as if Diego were about to be caught..., “Watch out, Diego, Lupes coming!”
-excerpt from Frida by Hayden Herrera.
The Bus Accident
September 17, 1925 [pp.47-49]
Suffers critical injuries in a bus accident on September 17th.
While she is bed-ridden and encased in a body cast she takes up painting, often making self-portraits, including "Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress".
As a result of this accident, Frida would endure numerous surgeries throughout her lifetime. She wore back braces or casts and was often in a great deal of pain. Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits because she was “…so often alone…” The accident left Frida unable to bear children.
Life After the Accident
1927
Joins the Young Communist League.
1928
Meets up with Diego Rivera again when seeking out his advice on her paintings. [pp. 87-89]
The two begin a romantic relationship. He paints her into his "Ballad of the Revolution" mural at the Ministry of Public Education, in a panel named "Frida Kahlo Distributes the Arms".
Frida and Diego
1929
Frida marries Diego Rivera on August 21st at the Coyoacan city hall in Mexico.
Frida is 22 & Diego is 43.
The couple then moves to Cuernavaca, Mexico. They are fierce supporters of the Communist movement. [& remain so even though Diego is removed from the party.]
1930
Frida & Diego travel to San Francisco.
Frida shows her first painting in an exhibit.
1932
Frida accompanies Diego to Detroit where he successfully paints another mural.
Frida suffers a painful miscarriage & paints Henry Ford Hospital.
Frida’s mother dies
1932-1934
Diego is commissioned to paint a mural at the RCA building at Rockefeller Center. The couple resides in NYC while Diego works.
February 1934
The mural Man at the Crossroads is destroyed in the middle of the night. Frida & Diego leave New York.
Frida is relieved.
1934*
Frida & Diego’s marriage becomes increasingly turbulent due to adultery on both parts. Frida is devastated when Diego has an affair with Cristina – Frida’s younger sister.
The couple live in separate houses that are joined by a bridge.
1935
Frida & Diego separate for a bit while Frida travels. Upon her return, they are reconciled.
1937*
Leon Trotsky arrives in Mexico and stays at the Casa Azul.
1938*
Frida’s first solo exhibition is held in New York. Frida sells more than half of the paintings featured in the exhibit.
1939
Frida travels to Paris for Mexique – an exhibition featuring Mexican artists.
While in Paris, she also developed friendships with such artists as Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso. During this time, the Lovre purchased her painting The Frame which was the first work by a 20th century Mexican artist ever purchased by the internationally renowned museum.
1939
Frida & Diego divorce.
Frida creates Las Dos Fridas – one of her most famous paintings.
1940
Frida & Diego remarry. The couple continues to live apart & infidelity continues.
1941
Frida is commissioned to paint several portraits for the Mexican government, but is unable to complete them due to chronic pain.
Guillermo Kahlo dies.
Frida gains both national & international popularity.
1944
Frida endures several surgeries & wears corsets/braces to fix her back.
She paints La Columna Rota while she heals.
Late 1940s – Early 1950
Frida began teaching art classes to her beloved Fridos
Frida’s chronic pain & illnesses became all-consuming. She was hospitalized for 9 months and endured several more surgeries.
In the following years, Frida continued to paint and support the Communist Party despite her illnesses.
1953*
Frida’s first solo exhibition was held in Mexico. She was bedridden, but determined to attend.
Later this year, Frida’s right leg was amputated due to an infection of gangrene.
1954
On July 13, 1954 – four days after her final public appearance – Frida Kahlo died at the Casa Azul.
Cause of death was listed as pulmonary embolism, but there is much speculation.
Later, in his autobiography, Diego Rivera wrote that the day Kahlo died was the most tragic day of his life, adding that, too late, he had realized that the most wonderful part of his life had been his love for her.
1958
Her beloved Blue House was opened as a museum in Coyoacan, Mexico.
1970s
The feminist movement led to renewed interest in her life and work, as Kahlo was viewed by many as an icon of female creativity.
1983
Hayden Herrera’s book on the artist, A Biography of Frida Kahlo, also helped to stir up interest this great artist.
2002
Her life was the subject of a film entitled Frida, starring Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards.
Posthumous Recognition