Students Work

Do you know Frida Kahlo? She was a Mexican painter who only became famous after she died in 1954. Like us, most people don't know her. She had very hard life and left many passionate and strange paintings behind. We saw the movie and she gave us a new idea how to understand modern art.

Biography

Frida was born in Mexico in 1907. During her childhood, she was smart and lively. Her life was completely changed because of the traffic accident in 1925. Except for her right hand, she was paralyzed and lost her boyfriend. During that period, she painted her feet because that was all she could see because her whole body was in the case. At that time, she started painting her family. After she recovered from the injuries, she went to see Diego (a famous Mexican painter) to show her paintings. He found her very talented and encouraged her to keep painting and she became his assistant. She married him a few years later. She stopped painting and they moved to New York. Here, she re-started to paint but kept it hidden until she had her exhibition. Diego's business had to stop a few years later because of a political problem. After that, they decided to go back to Mexico. She returned to Mexico City and began to suffer increasing back pain. Their relationship became worse because he had an affair with her sister. They divorced in 1939. After that, her paintings became more eccentric. In December 1940, they married again because she needed someone to look after her and she finished more than 30 paintings after the marriage. Frida suffered from backache for the rest of her life. In 1954, 7days after her 47 years birthday, Frida died in their house.

   Her paintings

This is the wedding painting of Frida and Diego. This painting shows the difference between Frida and Diego, such as the height and the size of the feet. Frida is wearing the traditional Mexican costume and Diego is wearing a formal dark suit and his palette - she considered herself the wife of the brilliant painter.