FRIDA KAHLO

1. FRIDA KAHLO FRIDA KAHLO (1907-1954)

2. Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón Born: July 6, 1907 (she always claimed 1910 as the year of her birth)‏. She was very tied to her culture and to Mexico. She loved her country with a deep passion, and 1910 was the start of a revolution against a horrible dictator, Porfirio Diaz, who had mistreated many Mexican citizens. Because 1910 was the beginning of a new kind of life with more equality and basic rights for Mexicans, Frida claimed it as the year of her birth- saying she was born when the new Mexico was born.

3. Frida Kahlo ( cont’d) • Frida, at the age of 6, contracted polio. • From this tender age she was different from the other girls at school. • She attended The National Preparatory School in 1922, she was one of 35 girls in a school that had more than 2000 students. • She developed a close relationship with her first love, Alejandro Gómez Arias (Alex to her)‏ - they went to classes together. She was truly passionate about her Alex. • At the age of 18 Frida and Alex were in a bus accident. • In school she showed great intelligence and a great passion for life.

4. Frida began to paint as a way to express all the pain she felt while she was trapped in her bed for months at a time. Many of Frida’s friends called her paintings therapy . She said she painted her own reality- what she saw The majority of her paintings were self. portraits, and many were done while she was confined to her bed. Andre Breton declared that Frida was a surrealist. He helped her get exhibitions in the US and in Paris.

5. Her great love : Diego Rivera Fridawas greatly interested in Diego and had great appreciation for his art while she was a student at the Preparatory School. Fridaapproached Diego to ask for advice about her paintings, and although they had not really met previously, he was intrigued. He became a mentor to her, and they found they had a lot in common. They eventually married and had a tempestuous relationship.

6. Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo While she gained some fame, she was never as famous as Diego. She was considered a good artist but not fully appreciated until after her death. Diego once said to Picasso, “I recommend her to you, not as her husband but as an enthusiastic admirer of her work.” Frida loved to take care of Diego, and he often said that she was the most important part of his life. Frida once said that she had suffered two grave accidents in her life. One was the trolley and the other was Diego. Although they loved each other passionately, their marriage was a source of great pain and great happiness for both of them. They divorced early 1940 and remarried in December of the same year.

7. Frida died at the age of 47. 1953: For the first time Frida had a one person exibition in her native land- something she had dreamed of all of her life. For her, it was more important that she was appreciated in Mexico than any other place in the world. Frida’s health had deteriorated. The exhibition was so important that an ambulance took Frida to the museum, and her bed was placed in the middle of the exhibition. It was the only way she was able to attend, but she was not going to miss it for the world. Frida died of kidney, liver, and heart failure on July13,1954