Frida Kahlo: Mexico's Greatest Artist

Improved Essays
Beautiful. Bold. Colorful. Real. These are just a few of many words that can be used to describe one of Mexico’s greatest artists, Frida Kahlo. Kahlo was an eccentric Mexican surrealist that lived a tumultuous life. In addition to her struggles throughout life, Kahlo was known for being herself. She did not conform to societal stereotypes, she was unapologetic, and she was comfortable with her sexuality. She knew exactly who she was and learned not to take people’s opinions to heart. She was a strong and confident woman and rightfully so. The struggles in her life shaped her into the loved and remembered artist she is today.
Born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderón, Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, in the village of Coyoaćan just outside of Mexico City. She was born to a German immigrant father and a mother of indigenous and Spanish descent. Kahlo grew up in La Casa Azul (The Blue House) with her younger siblings. She was one of four children but she lacked the attention she needed for her other. After giving birth to
…show more content…
During this time, painting held a greater importance in her life. She became preoccupied with the idea of motherhood and continued to paint self-portraits, in addition, to still lifes with flowers and fruit. Consistent with previous art, the still lives were sexual in character. Exhibitions were also a staple at this time. In 1938 Rivera convinced his wife to participate in an exhibition by the Mexico City University Gallery which marked the first time Frida Kahlo had publically exhibited her work. Later in the year, after Kahlo left for New York, she prepared for her first one-woman show. Held at the Levy Gallery, the show lasted for fifteen days and roughly half of her twenty-five paintings shown were sold. Kahlo’s work was part of an additional exhibit in Paris where her reviews were remarkable. One of her self-portraits titled The Frame was purchased by the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Frida Kahlo Museum Essay

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Frida Kahlo is the most famous Latin American painter of the 20th century and a fundamental figure of Mexican art. At 6 years old Frida suffers from poliomyelitis, then, at age 18, she has a tragic accident that severely affects her spine, despite her physical condition is an artist with an intense activity artistic. Politically, he is a member of the Communist Party and a faithful leftist activist. The Frida Kahlo Museum is in charge of the…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The majority of these pictures were not just about her they often depicted issues in the modern world. These issues would be things like the role of women and the role of artists in general.…

    • 266 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Dolores Ferdnández also known as Dolores Huerta was born April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico. Her parents divorced when she was an infant and moved with her mother and siblings to Stockton, California. She did however still keep a relationship with her father Juan Fernández. Her father later proved to be a(n) inspiration to Dolores. Dolores was both an activist and labor leader.…

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Ricky Rodriguez Humanities 262 / Spanish 262 Spring 2018 Essay #2 Dolores Huerta Dolores Huerta is one of the most underdiscussed figures in the United Farm Workers movement. She worked alongside Cesar Chavez and even is credited with coining the “Si se puede” slogan of the movement. She is a recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Award, a recipient of the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, and the founder of the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Dolores Huerta is an incredibly inspiring Chicano figure whose legacy has no doubt been undermined by the fact that she is a female.…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Significant personal events in one’s life can act to influence an individual’s artmaking practice. This is evident through Frida Kahlo’s artwork ‘The Broken Column’ 1944, Jenny Sages ‘After Jack’ 2012 and Christian Thompson ‘King Billy’ 2010. Frida Kahlo, is the first example of such an individual as she experienced a horrible accident causing permanent damage to her spine. As a result of the accident, Kahlo became influenced to paint through using her emotion as a driving force to paint where Kahlo states “I am broken, but I am happy as long as I can paint”. This is depicted in Kahlo’s artwork ‘The Broken Column’ in plate 4 which depicts a figure namely Kahlo herself being pricked by nails with the presence of a broken pillar.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Queen of Tejano Music On March 30th, 1995 was one of the saddest days for many Latinos all over the world, it was the day that forever changed many people’s lives, Selena Quintanilla had been killed by her fan club manager and he friend Yolanda. Selena was also known as being “La Reina De Tex Mex” or the queen of Tex Mex. She was adored and admired by many Latin Americans all over the world. Still to this day her memory lives and there have been many special events that have occurred to honor the star.…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Frida Kahlo Research Paper

    • 1956 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Now known as the Museum of Frida Kahlo. When Frida was a little girl, she was diagnose with polio at the age of six. While recovering, her right leg stayed thinner than her left leg and her right foot was prevented from growing into a normal size. Despite her handicaps, Frida became a tomboy, maybe this was a way for her to compensate the differences she had while being a girl with disabilities. She played games and sports competitively.…

    • 1956 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Frida Kahlo is such an interesting character in history; her life and work has inspired people from all over the globe. This nontraditional artist was born in Coyoacan, Mexico in the summer of 1907. Her father was a German photographer who had immigrated to Mexico and then married Matilde, Frida’s mother. Frida had three sisters; two older, Matilde and Adriana, and a younger, Cristina. Frida underwent many health complications all through her life which caused her physical pain.…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Selena Quintanilla Essay

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Selena Quintanilla: Queen of Tejano "Neither of us knew that Yolanda had returned to the same gun shop in San Antonio a few days before this, where she repurchased the exact snub-nosed Taurus 45 revolver that she had bought before." Selena Quintanilla-Perez was a well-known Tejano pop singer all around the world; having sold several of her albums in English and Spanish, expanding her legacy throughout the years. Not only was she a star however, but also wanted to become a fashion designer, so she had two boutiques owned in her name as well as a fan clubs. Despite her death at the very young age of twenty-three, she left a huge impingement upon worldwide.…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Elephant and the Dove The relationship of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is considered one of the most notable and controversial of modern times. This pair of brilliant and passionate artists can easily be considered to be a true power couple in the 20th century. Mexico 's most famous artists have certainly changed many people 's thoughts of their native home and together, Frida and Diego, have laid down a road for artists of the future to follow. It is their obvious differences that make them such a unique couple and their similarities that make them controversial. Frida Kahlo was born in Coyoacan, Mexico on July, 6 1907, this date was later changed by herself to 1910 to match the year of the Mexican Revolution so that she and modern Mexico would be associated together.…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Frida Kahlo

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The essay I chose to analyze for this assignment was, “Remembrance of an Open Wound: Frida Kahlo and Post-Revolutionary Mexican Identity”, by Corrine Andersen. The author argued for a more powerful meaning behind Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits, claiming that Kahlo’s works of art were not desperate, attention seeking pieces, but rather, a view of cultural and political strains of present-day Mexico. Andersen wrote this article for the critics who overlooked Frida Kahlo’s activism and public involvement. Andersen was successful in proving Frida Kahlo’s self portraits had a more powerful message. Throughout the essay, the author, used several works of art to explain the message of political and cultural issues shown in Frida Kahlo’s pieces.…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most influential, and recognized artist of the 20th century is Frida Kahlo. She displays her identity as a woman artist, a Mexican artist, and a politically involved artist in most of her art pieces. One constant theme, in Frida’s artworks is the theme of pain. Throughout her life, she was in constant pain, whether it be from after effects of the accident she had as a young adult, or emotional pain caused by her husband, Diego Rivera. The constant pain that she felt was evident in many of her works.…

    • 1074 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lastly the animals that surround Kahlo can be either viewed first or last in an order of hierarchy. This artwork is similar and different towards Picasso’s weeping woman in many…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Up to the 1930s, Kahlo’s self-portraits used imagery of plants and animals, but this developed further as she became the plant or animal, as shown in the 1943 painting ‘Roots’ (See Fig 5) where she metamorphoses into a plant. This amalgamation not only suggests her strong bond with nature but also her search to align herself with a culture and religion, as these animals have a symbolism of their own. Kahlo drew on Occident ideas on actuality and existence, focusing on Pre-Columbian beliefs, later exploring Hindu and Oriental creeds. Kahlo’s deliberate yet creative manipulation of religious references, and of indigenous culture, is one aspect that helps retain her status as the most famous Latin American artist. ' The Love Embrace of the Universe,…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Frida’s painting she does portray issues of gender roles but she pokes at them in a different way almost making fun of the traditional way women are made submissive to males in art. “Perhaps one of the reasons for the intensity of interest in Kahlo’s story is that she negotiated, in many way defied, this rather limited perspective of femininity in a very public and dramatic way.” Based on this article, self-portraits, and paintings alongside Diego Rivera, Frida was one of the first women to break new ground on what a woman should and could be. Frida’s education level and other aspects of her life she altered like religion or family to fit the story she wanted to tell. She eventually moved away from being recognized only as the wife of Diego Rivera but a woman who could stand on her own without the need of a man.…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays