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Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954)
was a Mexico|Mexican painter.



Kahlo was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y
Calderón in her parents' house in Coyoacán,
which at the time was a small town on the
outskirts of Mexico City. 
Her father was a painter and photographer of
Germany|German-Jewish background, whose family
originated from Oradea, Romania. The young Frida
suffered a bout of polio at age six, which left
her right leg looking much thinner than the other.
Still, with the feisty and brash personality that
she kept throughout her life, she overcame her
disability. 

Kahlo was terribly injured in a severe traffic
accident in 1925. Her strong will to live enabled
her to survive her injuries and eventually
regained her ability to walk, but she would have
relapses of extreme pain which would plague her
for life. After the accident, Kahlo turned her
attention from a medical career to painting.
Drawing on her personal experiences, her works are
often shocking in their stark portrayal of pain
and the harsh lives of women. Fifty-five of her
143 paintings are self-portraits that incorporate
personal symbolism complete with graphic
anatomical references. She was also influenced by
indigenous Mexican culture, aspects of which she
portrayed in bright colors, with a mixture of
realism and symbolism.

Her paintings attracted the attention of the
artist Diego Rivera, whom she later married,
divorced, and re-married. The couple's marriage
was very unstable and difficult. Rivera was said
to have battered Kahlo in fits of rage. When they
first married, he was 42, 6 ft 1 in. (1.86 m)
tall, and 300 pounds (136 kg); she was 22, 5'3",
and 98 pounds. Kahlo once stated, "I suffered two
grave accidents in my life. One involved a bus...
the other accident is Diego."

An active Communist supporter, Kahlo allegedly had
an affair with Leon Trotsky, who was assassinated
at his home in Mexico City by agents of Josef
Stalin|Stalin in 1940.  Sometime after Trotsky's
death, Frida denounced her former friend and
praised the Soviet Union under Stalin.  She spoke
favorably of Mao Zedong|Mao, calling China "the
new socialist hope". Her home was decorated with
socialist art, including portraits of Karl
Marx|Marx, Friedrich Engels|Engels, Stalin, and
Mao Zedong|Mao.

Although Kahlo's work is sometimes classified as
surrealist and she did exhibit several times with
European surrealists, she disputed the label. Her
preoccupation with female themes and the
figurative candor with which she expressed them
made her something of a feminist cult figure in
the last decades of the 20th century.

Kahlo died on July 13, 1954, of a pulmonary
embolism.  Her ashes are placed in a pre-Columbian
urn which is on display in her former home La Casa
Azul in Coyoacán, which has been turned into a
museum containing a number of her works.

A biographical documentary containing archival
footage, entitled Frida Kahlo, was released in
1982, in Germany. 
In 1984 director Paul Le Duc released the film
Frida, naturaleza viva, which stars Ofelia Medina
as Frida Kahlo. 
In 2002, Miramax released a motion picture titled
Frida, starring Salma Hayek in the title role.

Kahlo was noted for her unconventional appearance,
including pronounced eyebrows (a unibrow) and a
thin moustache which she did not remove.

== External links ==

Commons|Frida Kahlo
quote|Frida Kahlo

*http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issu
es02/nov02/kahlo.html Smithsonian Biography
November 2002
*http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/kahlo/index.html Gallery
of Frida Kahlo's work
*http://www.fantasyarts.net/Frida_Kahlo.htm Frida
Kahlo Paintings, Biography, and Historical
Information
*http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/grandall/gr
fridamuseo.html A visit to La Casa Azul
*http://www.bad-bad.de/fridakahlo Frida Kahlo -
Biography in German

Articles

* Turner, Christopher.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11
710,1486443,00.html Photographing Frida Kahlo: The
discovery of a stack of portraits taken by her
father provides the key to the Mexican artist's
work. The Guardian. Wednesday May 18, 2005.
Retrieved May 18, 2005. 
*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/gallery/0,8542,1424
416,00.html Guardian Unlimited: Arts Galleries:
Frida Khalo. The exhibition will be on at Tate
Modern from June 9 until October 9 2005. The
Guardian. Wednesday May 18, 2005. Retrieved May
18, 2005.
* Mike Gonzalez:
http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?arti
clenumber=9436 Frida Kahlo - a Life; Socialist
Review June 2005

== References ==

* Diary of Frida Kahlo. Edited by Carlos Fuentes.
296 pages. Harry N Abrams (March 1, 1998). ISBN
0810981955.
* The Letters of Frida Kahlo: Cartas Apasionadas.
edited by Martha Zamora. 159 pages.Chronicle Books
(November 1, 1995). ISBN 0811811247.

* Herrera, Hayden. Frida : A Biography of Frida
Kahlo. 528 pages.Perennial (October 1, 2002). ISBN
0060085894.