Death in the painting of Frida Kahlo. Frida Kahlo, paintings by Mexican artist

July 6th marks the 108th birth anniversary of the most celebrated Mexican woman of the 20th century - Frida Kahlo / Frida Kahlo.

• The famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, famous for her eccentricity and unique talent, was born in 1907 in the capital of Mexico. The girl's parents were a Jewish artist who moved from Germany, and a Spaniard born in America. Such an unusual combination of genes could not but affect the character of Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon.
• Unfortunately, very early, at the age of six, she was seriously ill with polio. The disease affected the development of the child, the girl's right leg stopped growing and subsequently became shorter and thinner than the left.
• Twelve years later, another misfortune happened to the future artist - she gets into a car accident, during which the iron reinforcement of the tram pierces through her body, passes through her stomach and hip bone. What would be the result of the surgical treatment of the victim, the doctors could not immediately guess, because they identified a spinal injury in three places. The injury led to immobility, which for a long time chained the young girl to bed.

  Frida Kahlo bedridden




• The tragic event still had a positive result, because inactivity quickly became unbearable for Kahlo - she took up the brush. At first, the girl painted self-portraits. A mirror was hung over her bed so that Frida could see herself in it.

  
  

• After a while, Kahlo decides to study, she enters in 1929 at the National Institute of Mexico. Energetic, full of love for life, the Mexican woman did her best to start walking again. But, even having got rid of the cell-bed, having again felt the freedom of movement, Frida does not give up her favorite pastime - painting. She attends classes at an art school, improving her unique style.
• In 1928, Kahlo joined the Communist Party, and soon her work was highly appreciated by Diego Rivera, a well-known communist artist in Latin America. The acquaintance continued, and the talented couple became husband and wife.

  

• There was a passionate, expressive relationship between Diego and Frida, fanned by a halo of romance. The couple loved life, always had an active life position, were at the center of public life. Even Diego's numerous betrayals could not change the attitude of his wife in love towards him.
• The spinal injuries experienced did not go unnoticed, Frida often experienced severe and excruciating pain. But this did not prevent her from actively communicating with people, having fun, attracting the attention of many men. Periodically, she needed to go to the hospital in order to slightly improve her condition. Also, wearing a special corset made life very difficult; Frida rarely parted with him. And in 1952, unfortunately, due to complications, she had to amputate her leg, up to the knee.

  Frida Kahlo on the cover of Vogue magazine (1937)

  
  

• But health problems did not become a reason to quit painting. On the contrary, in 1953, Frida Kahlo offered her first solo exhibition to the attention of connoisseurs of painting. Her paintings, mostly self-portraits, have allowed many to see the unique beauty of the artist. Even though there was no smile on her face, it attracts, makes you stop and slowly consider every feature.
• Another passion of the famous artist is the story of her beloved Mexico. She, like her husband Diego Rivera, collected various monuments of culture and art. The collected exhibits are currently stored in the Blue House.

  
  

• The bright life of an eccentric artist, unfortunately, ended prematurely. When Frida was only 47 years old, she fell ill with pneumonia. The weakened body could not endure this disease, and Frida died at such a young age. This was a great loss for Mexico, for fans of Kahlo's talent all over the world. It is worth noting that the artist's funeral was attended not only by her friends, but also by many famous writers, artists, the President of Mexico, Lazaro Cardenas.

The life of Frida Kahlo in the artist's diary

In the last year of her life, Frida Kahlo kept a diary, which will be very interesting to see for those who study her biography and work. On the pages of her diary, she wrote down her thoughts, made sketches, collages. The name that appears most often in records is Diego. The artist loved her husband very much, she considered him both a lover, a brother, a child, a colleague in creativity, and a mentor. Numerous diary entries are addressed to Diego, which consists of 170 written pages. You can read in it the memories of childhood, and her painful complaints about the disease and all the difficulties that are associated with it. Frank notes Kahlo led 10 years, but they can illustrate her whole life.

Frida Kahlo working with a Mexican boy

Features of the work of Frida Kahlo and its connection with the culture of Mexico

The main stylistic direction of Kahlo's paintings is surrealism, which is also filled with colorful Mexican motifs. This is how Andre Breton, the founder of the surrealist school, defined the Mexican style. But Frida herself was very negative about such an assessment of her work, as well as those who considered themselves surrealists. She considered everything depicted on her canvases an illustration of real, real life.

Kahlo's work was highly appreciated by well-known artists not only in Latin America, but also in the USA and Europe. Frida's works were exhibited not only at home, but also in Paris. True, the exhibition was poorly organized. When, at the invitation of Andre Breton, Frida came to her exhibition in the French capital, it turned out that the paintings were still at customs. And before the audience, they appeared only six weeks later. But that didn't stop the artist from getting a lot of amazing reviews. Moreover, one of the paintings was added to its collection by the magnificent Louvre, and this says a lot.

If Frida Kahlo carefully fenced herself off from surrealism, then she never hid the influence of Mexican folk art on her works. In her paintings, this influence is manifested very subtly and exquisitely. It can be seen that Frida loves her homeland, its history and culture. She wore national costumes with pleasure, this can be seen even in numerous portraits. Often in the paintings you can see various symbols characteristic of Mexican applied art. The ancient Indian mythology, national traditions affected the creativity. But, against the backdrop of such characteristic Mexican motifs, the paintings also illustrate the influence of painting by European artists. The combination of different schools and traditions, multiplied by complex life milestones, expressive character and became the basis of a unique style.

Paintings by Frida Kahlo

The list of paintings by the Mexican artist is very large. Many of the works are unique self-portraits that Frida began to paint while still immobile after a terrible car accident. In her portraits, Kahlo is often depicted in national Mexican costumes. Many works are known all over the world, they were repeatedly exhibited during the life of Kahlo, and after her death. These paintings include the unique canvas “Two Fridas”, “Little Doe”, “Broken Column”, “Self-Portrait. Loose hair. Also in the list of achievements of creativity:

1. "Moses" (1945)
2. "My Dress Is There or New York" (1933)
3. "Fruits of the Earth" (1938)
4. "The Suicide of Dorothy Hale" (1939)
5. "What the Water Gave Me" (1947)
6. "Self-portrait" (1930)
7. "Bus" (1927)
8. "The Girl in the Mask of Death" (1938)
9. "Dream" (1940)
10. "Still Life" (1942)
11. "Mask" (1945)
12. "Self-portrait" (1948)
13. "1945 Magnolia" and many others.

Frida Kahlo painting a portrait

The latest work, the still life "Viva la vida" (translated as "Long live life!") perfectly shows the attitude to the world around this amazing woman, whose path was very difficult and painful.
Some of Kahlo's paintings need not only be viewed, but even unraveled. This is a complex painting, attractive and bewitching. You can see Kahlo's paintings in museums in Mexico and other countries, as well as in private collections.

Frida Kahlo House Museum

An interesting, fascinating museum has been organized in the house where the famous artist was born. The building itself was erected a few years before the birth of Frida in Coyocan (a suburb of Mexico City). The architecture of the building is designed in the national Mexican traditions. This, after the organization of the museum, became a great advantage and brought a certain color to the exposition. During their lifetime, Frida and her husband significantly improved both the exterior and the interior. They decorated the room in the traditional Indian style, painted it blue. The furnishings of the house have been preserved as they were under the artist.

The memory of the artist

The life of a unique Mexican woman inspired many film workers and musicians to create works of art dedicated to Frida.

• Film "Frida" (2002). The role of the artist was played by another famous representative of Mexico, Salma Hayek.
• The film "Frida against the backdrop of Frida" (2005). Non-fiction art tape.
• Documentary film The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo (2005).
• Short film Frida Kahlo (1971).
• "The Life and Death of Frida Kahlo" (1976).

In 1994, a well-known jazz flutist from the USA released an entire album dedicated to the artist, Suite for Frida Kahlo. And in 2007, an asteroid was named after the artist.

The image and style of Frida Kahlo:

Salma Hayek in the movie "Frida" photo

Other photos of Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo with her favorite monkey

Candidate of Art History, Deputy Head of the Department of Contemporary Art of the State Hermitage Museum

“The Frida Kahlo retrospective is a great success, museums stand in line for her exhibitions. All her heritage - 143 paintings, with about 250 graphics. At the same time, a significant part of them is cut off from the international exhibition career. The fact is that the collection of the Kalo Rivera Foundation - and this is all that was kept by her husband Diego Rivera - according to the charter, cannot leave Mexico; you can see these things mainly in the so-called "Blue House", arranged in Frida's family nest. Against this background, 34 works that arrived in St. Petersburg look very respectable.

The excitement around Kahlo's work arose before our eyes: in the 2000s, a biopic was released with Salma Hayek, Madonna, in whose collection there are two Fridas, declared her her favorite artist, fashion magazines began to print her photographs. In fact, Frida was quite successful during her lifetime: already at her first exhibition in a New York gallery, she sold almost all her works, but after her death in 1954, a period of some oblivion began. Interest in her work arose again in the 1970s, when an active study of women's art began and, at the same time, researchers of Latin American culture made a big breakthrough. There is a lot of talk now about her being ahead of her time: being a proto-feminist, working with the uncomfortable subject of the body, and raising issues that even today seem too personal and painful to portray and perceive.

The main thing in the work of Frida Kahlo is the strength of the spirit. This is the art of perseverance. She splashed out all her sufferings and troubles onto the canvas, for her it served as a kind of art therapy. As a curator, I am often asked: was she really deeply unhappy? If you read Frida's letters, she sparkles with witticisms - she had a great sense of humor, always looks to the future, always wants to work. I think she was happy."

Accident, 1926

On September 17, 1925, the bus in which 18-year-old Frida was traveling with her boyfriend collided with a tram. Many died, she survived, but received terrible injuries - numerous fractures, including the spine, and damage to internal organs: an iron rod that cut open her stomach deprived Kahlo of the opportunity to have children. After the accident, the girl was bedridden for a year - that's when she began to draw regularly. The stretcher, which allows her to do it lying down, was designed for her by her father, a German immigrant who made a living from photography. In some way, he also influenced her artistic style: Frida Kahlo is a very detailed artist, carefully prescribing blades of grass, teeth, circles. She, apparently, took out meticulousness from her father's photo studio, where she helped to color the pictures - such an occupation requires great concentration and a small brush.

Exactly a year after the accident, Kahlo created a popular print, typical of Mexico, depicting a tragic incident and a patron saint associated with the disaster. But in this picture there is no heavenly intercessor - Frida is alone in her pain and will be alone in it for the rest of her life.

Portrait of Virginia, 1929

Two events that determined the life of Frida Kahlo: a terrible accident and a meeting with Diego Rivera. She first saw him as a teenager when Rivera painted the school where she studied. In 1929, Frieda was twenty-two, he was twenty years older than her - they got married. He strongly supports her as an artist, and on his advice, Frida turns to the topic of the indigenous population of Mexico: he paints four portraits of Indian women, including a Virginia girl. By the way, another portrait from this series was the first work that Kahlo sold.

Here, a brighter gamma is used than on her early canvases, and on the back, out of economy, the artist sketched her self-portrait. It was finished on a different canvas, was called "Time Flies" and in 2000 went with Sotheby's to a private collection for $ 5 million - from that moment Frida Kahlo became the most expensive artist in Mexico, bypassing Rivera as well.

Attention to traditional culture, in general, not alien to Frida (her mother is of Indian blood), was also reflected in her manner of dressing. In her self-portraits, she often appears in the costume of a Tehuana, that is, a resident of the Tehuantepec region, inhabited by the Zapotec Indians. In these communities, a system close to matriarchy has been established: women own money and resources, they can trade while men work in the fields. Kahlo, as a freedom-loving nature, could not but appreciate this. In addition, long skirts successfully hid her lameness - after suffering from polio in childhood, one of the artist's legs was shorter than the other. In Mexico City, such outfits did not seem surprising - the Mexican elite then stood up for the revival of traditions, but in New York, Frida looked extraordinary and immediately became known as a style icon. At the exhibition at the Faberge Museum, we show two traditional Tehuana costumes - they did not belong to Frida, but come from the same workshop where she sewed her dresses. (You can see, for example, the authentic things of the artist, including a corset with the image of a sickle and a hammer and a decorated prosthesis. - Note. ed.)

Portrait of Luther Burbank, 1932

Luther Burbank is an American Michurin, a talented self-taught breeder who created about 800 new varieties of berries, fruits and vegetables. The Russet Burbank potato variety is still one of the most common in the United States, it is used in McDonald's. Frida and Diego were interested in Burbank's ideas (Rivera even placed him on the "Allegory of California" in the Stock Exchange tower in San Francisco), read his programmatic autobiography "The Harvest of Life", but never met him personally. Moreover, by the time Frida decided to paint this portrait, the breeder had been dead for several years. However, the couple went to the California estate of Burbank, in the garden of which he rested according to his will. So he is depicted - a hybrid of man and tree sprouted from the grave, who gained immortality in his deeds. To the right of the figure is the result of Burbank's experiments, a tree with giant fruits, to the left, for contrast, an ordinary one.

Burbank holds a philodendron bush in his hands, and this is not an accidental detail. Frida was well versed in botany: her library contained many books and atlases on the natural sciences, she looked after the huge garden at the house. The flora on her canvases is never arbitrary - the artist not only knew all these plants, but was also familiar with their symbolism. Philodendron in the Aztec culture was associated with fertility: it easily and quickly takes aerial roots, demonstrating an indestructible thirst for life. At the same time, some members of this family are poisonous and can cause hallucinations. The fact is that part of Burbank's belief in progress was the theory of the creation of a new man: if cultivation works so well with plants, then why not apply the same method to people. Frida found eugenics to be alien and distasteful, and according to some studies, this is what she emphasizes by including the potentially poisonous philodendron in the composition. The fact that the two leaves are depicted from the light, reverse side may also indicate the reverse side of Burbank's ideas.

Henry Ford Hospital, 1932

Shortly after her marriage to Rivera, Frida became pregnant, but for medical reasons she was forced to have an abortion. The second pregnancy also ended tragically: in 1932, in Detroit, where the Rivera Courtyard of the Art Institute, she had a miscarriage. Trying to comprehend what happened, for the first time in the history of art, she turned to the topic of the loss of a child. In the picture, naked Frida lies in a pool of blood in a hospital bed, and the objects connected to her by umbilical cords, in one way or another, tell about the experience. The fruit is a lost child, a boy, which was especially bitter, because little Diego, unlike the big Diego, would belong to her undividedly; snail - painfully creeping time in the hospital; the pelvic bones crushed in the accident is the reason why she couldn't bear it. The orchid refers to female sexuality and the reproductive system, and with the help of the image of a mechanical device, the artist, according to her, wanted to convey the mechanics of medical procedures, their coldness and cruelty.

Because of the imagery of this and other mature works, Frida Kahlo is often referred to as a Surrealist. Actually, Andre Breton himself persistently tried to enroll the artist in their ranks, calling her art “a ribbon tied to a bomb.” She herself in every possible way denied connection with this trend. If Breton's associates wanted to free themselves from the conscious, allowing fragments of dreams and nightmares to break out, Frida, on the contrary, tried to rationalize her feelings. In this sense, her approach is diametrically opposed to surrealism. The art of Frida Kahlo is coding, encryption, everything that has a lot of brain.

By the way, with the important work of Frida "Wounded Table" Wounded table, 1940, first shown at the Surrealist exhibition organized by Breton, a strange story happened. In 1955, the "Stol" went to an exhibition in Moscow and mysteriously disappeared along the way. It is only known for certain that the painting arrived in Russia, and for the last year I have been searching for traces of it in the archives.

A few scratches, 1935

Literally, the title of the work translates as “A few small injections”, but I took the liberty of adapting it for the exhibition - injections evoke hospital associations, but here we are talking about wounds that someone considers a trifle. Frida's wounds were inflicted by Diego. On her part, it was an all-consuming passion - just listen to her about her husband (the text written by Frida is recited by the artist. - Note. ed.). Despite the fact that Kahlo was constantly in the cycle of love stories, Rivera was for her the center of the world. Diego, an incorrigible liar and a womanizer, was careful about her talent, but casually about her feelings. He began to cheat on Frida immediately after the wedding. She quickly realized that there was nothing to be done about it, she just had to close her eyes. But the cup of patience overflowed when she found out about his relationship with Christina, her beloved younger sister. Frida was insulted, humiliated, disgraced.

Against this emotional background, a picture was painted, the impetus for the creation of which was a note about a woman killed by her husband out of jealousy. In court, he said: "Just a few scratches!". Although it was believed that the Mexican Revolution had liberated the woman by giving her more rights, the society of that time remained deeply patriarchal, and what is now called domestic violence was commonplace.

In the first sketch that Frida made for this painting, she follows the texture of the note: a man with a mustache, standing next to him is his crying little son. In the final version, the killer is given the features of the villain - Diego Rivera: these are his proportions, his favorite hat. He is dressed, while the victim is depicted naked, bloodied. This is, of course, Frida - torn and crushed. Her body is a bloody "still life" put on public display. Even the frame Kahlo covered with blood-red stains of paint to enhance the sense of horror from this crime. Despite everything, Frida reconciled with Christina. Rivera did not even think about stopping cheating on her, and in 1939 they divorced - only to get married again a year later.

My Nurse and I, 1937

The traditional interpretation of the work is based on the details of the artist’s childhood: just a couple of months after the birth of Frida, her mother became pregnant with her fourth daughter (the same Christina) and, having lost her milk, left the girl for a Mexican nanny. Hence a fairly common psychoanalytic interpretation: alienation and loneliness experienced by a child torn from its mother's breast. It is much more interesting to analyze this picture from the point of view of Frida's personal symbolic system. For example, a background of green leaves is a protective motif often found in Kahlo.

The pupa and the butterfly on the right side are the personification of death and resurrection of the soul, traditional for European still lifes, but on the left side you can see a more unusual insect, a stick insect from the ghost family. Ghosts survive due to the fact that they know how to mimic, pretending to be twigs and shoots. The desire to hide behind extravagant behavior was to some extent characteristic of Kahlo herself. In addition, stick insects hatch as adults, as does Frida, who is depicted as both a baby and an adult.

The powerful figure of the nurse resembles an Indian idol, and her face is covered with a ritual mask. Remembering how reverent the artist was about her roots, how important the heritage of the pre-Columbian era was for her, this hint at a connection with traditions is easy to read. The Mexican nurse carefully holds Frida in her arms, life-giving milk rain pours from above, in a word, the homeland is what gives Kahlo protection and strength.

Broken column, 1944

This is one of the most famous and publicized works of Frida Kahlo. Perhaps because it does not need further explanation - this is an expressive manifesto of resilience before the blows of fate, an image of strength. The backdrop for the self-portrait is the Pedregal Plateau, a volcanic desert landscape southwest of Mexico City. This dry, barren land appears in many of Kahlo's 1940s works: cracks in the soil rhyme with cracks in her soul and body. At this time, due to numerous operations, Frida had to wear orthopedic corsets. In her self-portrait, in place of a broken spine, Frida depicts a broken column, the edges of the wound are painted scarlet, the nails stuck into the body symbolize not only physical pain, but also mental suffering. Nevertheless, she stands straight and openly looks at the viewer.

Portrait of engineer Eduardo Morillo Safa, 1944

We owe much to this man for the exhibition at the Faberge Museum: the agronomist and diplomat Eduardo Morillo Safa was a great friend of Frida and collected her paintings. In total, he bought about 35 of her works, which later moved to the Dolores Olmedo Museum, this collection provided the backbone for the St. Petersburg exhibition. At some point, Morillo Safa commissioned Kahlo to paint portraits of his family members - mother, wife, son, two daughters - and his own. It is curious that in this work Frida does not use any symbols that reveal the identity of the person depicted. This is typical of all male portraits made by the artist - the face, the costume, that's all. Symbolic men, apparently, are not inherent. This is especially evident in comparison with mother's portrait diplomat, Doña Rosita Morillo, rich in visual props: her status as a matriarch is emphasized by many details, for example, Doña Rosita knits the fabric of her family's fate. Actually, at this exhibition, the portrait of Morillo Safa hangs between the portrait of his mother and the self-portrait of Frida - again, the fate of a man.

Self-portrait with a monkey, 1945

Diego offends Frida again, she is sad - and defends herself with a necklace of her favorite creatures and things. The monkey is the substitute for the child she couldn't have. There have always been many animals in the Blue House: monkeys, parrots, bald dogs of the Sholoitzcuintle breed, one of which is depicted in the picture. The Aztecs kept these dogs at temples as sacred animals and served their meat at ceremonial feasts, and in the first half of the 20th century, in the wake of the rise of national consciousness, the Xoloitzcuintle became fashionable pets among the Mexican elite. Both the Sholoitzcuintle and the Indian deity connect the artist with her roots, the traditions of ancient Mexico. The charms that protect Frida from suffering are wrapped in a yellow ribbon, but it all starts with a nail, which probably refers to the expression estar clavado - “to be deceived” (clavo, “nail” in Spanish).

Circle, 1954

The sad point of the exhibition. In 1953, Frieda's right leg was amputated knee-deep to stop the onset of gangrene. She drowned out physical suffering with alcohol and strong painkillers, which was reflected in her manner of writing. Attention to details is gone - the dissolution of the crippled figure in space is conveyed by torn, chaotic strokes. In her diary at this time, she writes "I am disintegration." And this is no longer a natural return to earth - as on self-portrait the mid-1940s, where plants sprout peacefully through her flesh while painfully decaying. In the same year that The Circle was written, Frida Kahlo died.

The flamboyant Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is best known to the public for her emblematic self-portraits and depictions of Mexican and Amerindian cultures. Known for her strong and strong-willed character, as well as communist sentiments, Kahlo left an indelible mark not only in Mexican, but also in world painting.

The artist had a difficult fate: almost all her life she was haunted by numerous diseases, operations and unsuccessful treatment. So, at the age of six, Frida was bedridden with polio, as a result of which her right leg became thinner than her left and the girl remained lame for life. The father encouraged his daughter in every possible way, involving her in men's sports at that time - swimming, football and even wrestling. In many ways, this helped Frida to form a persistent, courageous character.

The 1925 event was a turning point in Frida's career as an artist. On September 17, she had an accident along with her fellow student and lover Alejandro Gomez Arias. As a result of the collision, Frida ended up in the Red Cross hospital with numerous fractures of the pelvis and spine. Serious injuries led to a difficult and painful recovery. It was at this time that she asked for paints and a brush: a mirror suspended under the canopy of the bed allowed the artist to see herself, and she began her creative path with self-portraits.

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

Being one of the few female students of the National Preparatory School, Frida already during her studies is fond of political discourse. At a more mature age, she even becomes a member of the Mexican Communist Party and the Young Communist League.

It was during her studies that Frida first met the then-famous mural painter Diego Rivera. Kahlo often watched Rivera as he worked on the Creation mural in the school auditorium. Some sources claim that Frida already then spoke about her desire to give birth to a child from the muralist.

Rivera encouraged Frida's creative work, but the union of two bright personalities was very unstable. Most of the time, Diego and Frida lived apart, settling in houses or apartments in the neighborhood. Frida was upset by her husband's numerous infidelities, in particular, Diego's connection with her younger sister Cristina hurt her. In response to family betrayal, Kahlo cut off her famous black curls and captured the resentment and pain suffered in the painting "Memory (Heart)".

Nevertheless, the sensual and passionate artist also had affairs on the side. Among her lovers are the famous American avant-garde sculptor of Japanese origin Isamu Noguchi, and the communist refugee Lev Trotsky, who took refuge in the Blue House (Casa Azul) of Frida in 1937. Kahlo was bisexual, so her romantic relationships with women are also known, for example, with the American pop artist Josephine Baker.

Despite betrayals and romances on both sides, Frida and Diego, even after parting in 1939, reunited again and remained spouses until the death of the artist.

The infidelity of her husband and the inability to give birth to a child are vividly drawn on the canvases of Kahlo. The embryos, fruits and flowers depicted in many of Frida's paintings symbolize precisely her inability to bear children, which was the cause of her extremely depressive states. So, the painting “Henry Ford Hospital” depicts a naked artist and symbols of her infertility – a fetus, a flower, damaged hip joints connected to her by bloody vein-like threads. At the New York exhibition in 1938, this painting was presented under the title "Lost Desire".

Features of creativity

The uniqueness of Frida's paintings lies in the fact that all her self-portraits are not limited to depicting only appearance. Each canvas is rich in details from the life of the artist: each depicted object is symbolic. It is also indicative how Frida depicted the connections between objects: for the most part, connections are blood vessels that feed the heart.

Each self-portrait contains clues to the meaning of what is depicted: the artist herself has always imagined herself serious, without a shadow of a smile on her face, but her feelings are expressed through the prism of perception of the background, color palette, objects surrounding Frida.

Already in 1932, more graphic and surrealistic elements are visible in the work of Kahlo. Frida herself was alien to far-fetched and fantastic plots: the artist expressed real suffering on her canvases. The connection with this trend was rather symbolic, since in Frida's paintings one can detect the influence of pre-Colombian civilization, national Mexican motifs and symbols, as well as the theme of death. In 1938, fate pushed her against the founder of surrealism, Andre Breton, about the meeting with whom Frida herself spoke as follows: “I never thought that I was a surrealist until Andre Breton came to Mexico and told me about it.” Before meeting Breton, Frida's self-portraits were rarely perceived as something special, but the French poet saw surreal motifs on the canvases that made it possible to depict the artist's emotions and her unspoken pain. Thanks to this meeting, a successful exhibition of paintings by Kahlo in New York was held.

In 1939, after her divorce from Diego Rivera, Frida painted one of the most telling canvases, The Two Fridas. The picture depicts two natures of one person. One Frida is dressed in a white dress, which shows drops of blood flowing from her wounded heart; the dress of the second Frida is more brightly colored, and the heart is unharmed. Both Fridas are connected by blood vessels that feed both exposed hearts, a technique often used by the artist to convey mental pain. Frida in bright national dress is exactly the “Mexican Frida” that Diego loved, and the image of the artist in a Victorian wedding dress is a Europeanized version of the woman Diego abandoned. Frida holds her hand, emphasizing her loneliness.

Kahlo's paintings stick in the memory not only with images, but also with a bright, energetic palette. In her diary, Frida herself tried to explain the colors used in the creation of her paintings. So, green was associated with kind, warm light, magenta purple was associated with the Aztec past, yellow symbolized insanity, fear and illness, and blue symbolized the purity of love and energy.

Frida's legacy

In 1951, after more than 30 operations, the mentally and physically broken artist managed to endure the pain only thanks to painkillers. Already at that time it was difficult for her to draw as before, and Frida used medicines along with alcohol. Previously detailed images became more blurry, hastily drawn and careless. As a result of alcohol abuse and frequent psychological breakdowns, the death of the artist in 1954 gave rise to many rumors of suicide.

But with her death, Frida's fame only increased, and her beloved Blue House became a museum-gallery of paintings by Mexican artists. The feminist movement of the 1970s also revived interest in the personality of the artist, as many viewed Frida as an iconic figure of feminism. Hayden Herrera's Frida Kahlo Biography and the 2002 film Frida keep that interest alive.

Frida Kahlo self-portraits

More than half of Frida's works are self-portraits. She began to draw at the age of 18, after she got into a terrible accident. Her body was badly broken: the spine was damaged, the pelvic bones, collarbone, ribs were broken, there were eleven fractures on only one leg. Frida's life is merry in the balance, but the young girl was able to win, and in this, oddly enough, drawing helped her. Even in the hospital ward, a large mirror was placed in front of her and Frida drew herself.

In almost all self-portraits, Frida Kahlo portrayed herself as serious, gloomy, as if frozen and cold with a stern, impenetrable face, but all the emotions and emotional experiences of the artist can be felt in the details and figures surrounding her. Each of the paintings contains the feelings that Frida experienced at a certain point in time. With the help of a self-portrait, she seemed to be trying to understand herself, to reveal her inner world, to free herself from the passions raging inside her.

The artist was an amazing person with great willpower, who loves life, knows how to rejoice and love endlessly. A positive attitude towards the world around her and a surprisingly subtle sense of humor attracted a wide variety of people to her. Many sought to get into her "Blue House" with indigo-colored walls, to recharge with the optimism that the girl fully possessed.

Frida Kahlo put the strength of her character into every self-portrait she painted, all the emotional anguish experienced, the pain of loss and genuine willpower, she does not smile on any of them. The artist always portrays herself as strict and serious. Frida endured the betrayal of her beloved husband Diego Rivera very hard and painfully. The self-portraits written in that period of time are literally riddled with suffering and pain. However, despite all the trials of fate, the artist was able to leave behind more than two hundred paintings, each of which is unique.

Calo de Rivera Frida is a Mexican artist best known for her self-portraits.

Frida Kahlo de Rivera (Spanish: Frida Kahlo de Rivera), or Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderon (Spanish: Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo Calderon; Coyoacan, Mexico City, July 6, 1907 - July 13, 1954) was a Mexican artist best known for her self-portraits. Mexican culture and the art of the peoples of pre-Columbian America had a noticeable influence on her work. The artistic style of Frida Kahlo is sometimes characterized as naïve art or folk art. The founder of surrealism, Andre Breton, ranked her among the surrealists. She was in poor health all her life, suffering from polio from the age of six, and also had a serious car accident as a teenager, after which she had to undergo numerous operations that affected her whole life. In 1929, she married the painter Diego Rivera, and, like him, supported the communist party. Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacán, a suburb of Mexico City (she later changed her birth year to 1910, the year of the Mexican Revolution). Her father was photographer Guillermo Kahlo, a German of Jewish origin. Frida's mother, Matilda Calderon, was a Mexican with Indian roots. Frida Kahlo was the third child in the family. At the age of 6, she suffered from polio, after the illness, lameness remained for life, and her right leg became thinner than her left (which Kahlo hid under long skirts all her life). Such an early experience of the struggle for the right to a full life tempered the character of Frida. Frida was engaged in boxing and other sports. At the age of 15, she entered the "Preparatory" (National Preparatory School), one of the best schools in Mexico, with the aim of studying medicine. Of the 2,000 students in this school, there were only 35 girls. Frida immediately earned credibility by creating a closed group "Kachuchas" with eight other students. Her behavior was often called outrageous. In the Preparatory, her first meeting took place with her future husband, the famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera, who from 1921 to 1923 worked at the Preparatory School on the painting “Creation”.

At the age of eighteen, on September 17, 1925, Frida had a severe accident. The bus she was on collided with a tram. Frida received serious injuries: a triple fracture of the spine (in the lumbar region), a fracture of the collarbone, broken ribs, a triple fracture of the pelvis, eleven fractures of the bones of the right leg, a crushed and dislocated right foot, and a dislocated shoulder. In addition, her stomach and uterus were pierced with a metal railing, which severely damaged her reproductive function. She was bedridden for a year, and health problems remained for life. Subsequently, Frida had to undergo several dozen operations, not leaving hospitals for months. She, despite her ardent desire, could not become a mother. It was after the tragedy that she first asked her father for brushes and paints. A special stretcher was made for Frida, which allowed her to write lying down. A large mirror was attached under the canopy of the bed so that she could see herself. The first picture was a self-portrait, which forever determined the main direction of creativity: “I paint myself because I spend a lot of time alone and because I am the topic that I know best.”

In 1928 she joined the Mexican Communist Party. Frida Kahlo married Diego Rivera in 1929. He was 43 years old, she was 22. The two artists were brought together not only by art, but also by common communist political beliefs. Their stormy life together has become a legend. Many years later, Frida said: “There were two accidents in my life: one was when the bus crashed into a tram, the other was Diego.” In the 1930s, Frida lived for some time in the United States, where her husband worked. This forced long stay abroad, in a developed industrial country, made her feel national differences more acutely. Since then, Frida has been especially fond of Mexican folk culture, collecting old works of applied art, and even wearing national costumes in everyday life. A trip to Paris in 1939, where Frida became a sensation at a thematic exhibition of Mexican art (one of her paintings was even acquired by the Louvre), further developed the patriotic feeling. In 1937, the Soviet revolutionary leader Lev Trotsky briefly took refuge in the house of Diego and Frida; they began an affair with Frida. It is believed that he was forced to leave them by too obvious passion for the temperamental Mexican. In the 1940s, Frida's paintings appeared in several notable exhibitions. At the same time, her health problems are getting worse. Medicines and drugs designed to reduce physical suffering change her state of mind, which is vividly reflected in the Diary, which has become a cult among her fans. In 1953, her first solo exhibition took place in her homeland. By that time, Frida could no longer get out of bed, and she was brought to the opening of the exhibition in a hospital bed. Soon, due to the onset of gangrene, her right leg was amputated below the knee. Frida Kahlo died on July 13, 1954 from pneumonia. Shortly before her death, she left the last entry in her diary: "I hope that the departure will be successful, and I will not return." Some friends of Frida Kahlo speculated that she died of an overdose, and her death may not have been accidental. However, there is no evidence of this version; an autopsy was not performed. Farewell to Frida Kahlo took place at the Palace of Fine Arts. In addition to Diego Rivera, the ceremony was attended by Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas and many artists. Since 1955, Frida Kahlo's Blue House has become a museum in her memory.

Lit.: Teresa del Conde. Vida de Frida Kahlo. - Mexico: Departamento Editorial, Secretaría de la Presidencia, 1976. Teresa del Conde. Frida Kahlo: La Pintora y el Mito. - Barcelona, ​​2002. Drucker M. Frida Kahlo. - Albuquerque, 1995. Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism. (Cat.). - S.F.: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1996. Frida Kahlo. (Cat.). - L. The diary of Frida Kahlo: an intimate self-portrait / H.N. Abrams. - N.Y., 1995. , 2005. Leklezio J.-M. Diego and Frida - M.: Hummingbird, 2006. Kettenmann A. Frida Kahlo: Passion and pain. - M., 2006. - 96 p. Prignitz-Poda H. Frida Kahlo: Life and Work. - N.Y., 2007. Herrera H. Frida Kahlo. Viva la vida! - M., 2004.

The Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has had so many trials that you cannot envy her. Small and fragile, she possessed an incredible inner strength that managed to overcome all adversity. The story of her life is a story of ongoing struggle, love and hate, friendship and betrayal, creative ups and downs.

In her paintings - a life full of tragedy. Her own life, which she desperately tried to understand...

early years

Frida Kahlo was born in Coyoacan, Mexico City, on July 6, 1907. Her father, who was engaged in photography, was a German Jew, her mother had Mexican and Indian roots. Frida was the third child in the family.

At the age of 6, the girl was ill with polio, as a result of which she limped all her life. Her right leg was several centimeters shorter than her left, which caused her peers to call her "wooden leg". Difficulties at such an early age only hardened Frida's character. To spite everyone, she, overcoming pain, played football with the guys, went swimming and boxing classes.

At the age of 15, Kahlo entered one of the best preparatory schools, where she planned to study medicine. She quickly earned authority by creating the Kachuchas group with several students. At this time, she was already painting, but she did not take her painting seriously. Everything changed in 1923 when she met the painter Diego Rivera.

Frida, like a little girl, walked around Diego all the time, trying to get his attention. She told everyone that she would marry him, and in the end, she did. However, before Kahlo had to go through a real hell.

In 1925, Frida was in a terrible car accident. The bus she was traveling in crashed into a tram. The iron rod of the current collector entered the girl, damaging the uterus and breaking the hip bone. Her spine was broken in three places, her right leg was crushed, and her ribs were broken. Doctors shrugged in horror, but she, having undergone more than thirty operations, survived. For a whole year, Frida was bedridden. Gradually, she got to her feet, but she could no longer have children.

In this difficult time for Kahlo, Diego Rivera was nearby. He supported her as best he could. It was thanks to him that Frida believed in herself and got out. The artist taught her a lot about painting. He was the first to discover her talent for drawing.

Trapped in passion

The dizzying romance of Kahlo and Rivera ended in a wedding. In 1929 they became husband and wife. She was 22 years old, he was 43. They were brought together not only by painting, but also by communist ideals. The stormy life together of two extraordinary personalities has become a legend. Diego loved women and, on occasion, cheated on his wife. Frida knew this, but she couldn't help it. She later said that there were two accidents in her life: one was a car accident, the other was Diego. After the wedding, the newlyweds settled in the "blue house", which was located in a wealthy area of ​​​​Mexico City.

In the late 1920s, Diego Rivera was invited to work in the United States. The couple spent several years in America, because of which the artist was expelled from the Communist Party. Frida also left after him, but in 1933 she joined again. Life abroad made her feel more acutely the injustice of the social structure, the significance of national culture. The artist began to collect old works of art, to be more sensitive to Mexican culture, to wear national costumes. In a certain way, this also influenced her work.

In 1937, the Soviet revolutionary Lev Trotsky appeared in Kahlo's life. Fleeing from persecution at home, he found refuge in Mexico, in the house of Diego and Frida. There are many legends about the relationship between Trotsky and Kahlo, but how true they are is unknown. According to the most common version, the Soviet revolutionary fell madly in love with a temperamental Mexican. She, carried away by communist ideas, could not refuse such a great figure. They began an affair, but Trotsky's jealous wife strangled him in the bud. Soon they left the "blue house".

In 1939, Kahlo's work was first seen in Europe: several of her paintings were shown in Paris as part of an exhibition of Mexican art. They made an incredible impression on everyone, and one work was even acquired by the Louvre. At the same time, Frida's health problems worsened. Strong drugs, designed to reduce suffering, changed her state of mind. And after a while, they no longer helped to cope with the pain.

In 1950, the artist underwent several operations on her spine, after which she spent a year in the hospital. She was no longer able to move independently and was forced to transfer to a wheelchair. And soon Frida lost her right leg.

In 1953, a large personal exhibition of Kahlo was organized in Mexico. She was brought to the gallery straight from the hospital. Despite the fact that her condition was difficult, she found the strength to sing and have fun. But in no self-portrait of that period, the artist did not smile: a gloomy, serious face, a stern look, tightly compressed lips.

On July 13, 1954, Frida Kahlo died of pneumonia. Some friends of the artist suggested that the cause of death was a drug overdose, but there is no evidence for this version. The farewell ceremony for Frida was attended by all prominent artists and Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas.

Despite a life full of suffering and pain, Frida Kahlo was a liberated, extroverted person. She smoked heavily, drank alcohol to excess, sang obscene songs, and was openly bisexual. The work of the artist is treated differently. Some admire her paintings, others are disgusted by them. But one thing is clear: she was a great woman.