Frida Kahlo is an artist turned pop culture icon.

A stern face pitted with pain, blue-black hair braided in a wreath of braids, characteristic fused eyebrows. In addition, strong lines, expressive colors, beautiful costumes and vegetation, animals in the background. You probably know the portraits of Frida and her paintings. In addition to galleries and exhibitions, the image of the world-famous Mexican artist can be found on posters, t-shirts and bags. Other artists talk about Kahlo, sing and write about her. What is its phenomenon? To understand this, it is worth knowing the extraordinary story that her life itself painted.

Mexico goes well with her

She was born in 1907. However, when she spoke about herself, she called 1910 her birthday. It was not about rejuvenation, but about the anniversary. Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, with which Frida identified herself. She also wanted to emphasize that she is a native Mexican and that this country is close to her. She wore folk costumes and it was her everyday outfit - colorful, traditional, with patterned dresses and skirts. She stood out from the crowd. She was a bright bird, like her beloved parrots. She always surrounded herself with animals and they, like plants, often appeared in her paintings. So how did she start drawing?

A life marked by pain

She had health problems since childhood. At the age of 6, she was diagnosed with a form of polio. She struggled with pain in her legs, limped, but was always strong. She played football, boxed and played many sports considered masculine. For her, there was no such separation. She is considered a feminist artist who showed at every step that nothing is impossible for her as a woman.

She did not run out of fighting strength after the accident she experienced as a teenager. Then, innovative for those times, wooden buses appeared in her country. Our future painter was driving one of them when the accident happened. The car collided with a tram. Frida received very serious injuries, her body was pierced by a metal rod. She was not given a chance to survive. The spine was broken in several places, the collarbone and ribs were broken, the foot was crushed ... She underwent 35 operations, she lay immobilized for a long time - all in a cast - in the hospital. Her parents decided to help her - to kill boredom and distract from suffering. She has drawing supplies. Everything is adapted to her lying position. At the request of her mother, mirrors were also installed on the ceiling so that Frida could observe and draw herself lying down (she also painted the plaster). Hence her later passion for self-portraits, which she mastered to perfection. It was then that she discovered her passion for painting. She experienced her love for art from an early age, when she went with her father, the Count, to a photo laboratory, helping him develop pictures that she viewed with great pleasure. However, the creation of images turned out to be something more important.

Elephant and dove

After long months in the hospital, and after an even longer rehabilitation, Frida got back on her feet. The brushes became a permanent item in her hands. Painting was her new occupation. She left her medical education, which she had previously taken up, which was a real feat for a woman, because mainly men studied and worked in this industry. However, the artistic soul made itself felt and there was no turning back. Over time, Kahlo decided to check if her paintings were really good. She turned to local artist Diego Riviera, to whom she showed her work. A much older, more experienced artist, he was delighted with both the paintings and their young, daring author. They were also united by political views, love of social life and openness. The latter meant that the lovers led a very intense, passionate, but also stormy life, full of love, quarrels and jealousy. Riviera was famous for the fact that when he painted women (especially naked ones), he had to thoroughly recognize his model ... They say that Frida cheated on him with both men and women. Diego turned a blind eye to the latter, but Frida's affair with Leon Trotsky was a strong blow to him. Despite the ups and downs and how others perceived them (they said that she was like a dove - tender, miniature, and he was like an elephant - big and old), they got married and worked together. She loved him immensely and was his muse.

The Art of Feelings

Love also brought the painter a lot of suffering. She never managed to give birth to the child of her dreams, because her body, destroyed by the accident, did not allow her to do so. After one of her miscarriages, she poured her pain onto the canvas - creating the famous painting "Henry Ford Hospital". In many other works, she was inspired by dramatic stories both from her own life (the painting “The Bus”), and from the history of Mexico and its people (“A Few Small Blows”).

It was not easy to live with a husband, an artist - a free spirit. On the one hand, it opened the door to the big world of art. They traveled together, made friends with famous artists (Picasso appreciated Frida's talent), arranged their exhibitions in major museums (the Louvre bought her work "Frama" and it was the first Mexican painting in a Paris museum), but on the other hand, Diego's hand caused her the greatest pain He cheated on her with his younger sister. Frida drowned her sorrows in alcohol, in fleeting loves and created very personal images (including the most famous self-portrait "Two Fridas" - talking about her spiritual tears). She also decided to divorce.

Love to the grave

Years later, unable to live without each other, Diego and Kahlo got married again. It was still a stormy relationship, but in 1954, when the artist fell ill and felt her death, they became very close. It is not known whether she died of pneumonia (this is the official version) or whether her husband helped (at the request of his wife) alleviate her suffering by injecting a large dose of drugs. Or was it suicide? After all, neither an autopsy was performed, nor anyone investigated the cause.

The joint exhibition of Frida and Diego was organized posthumously for the first time. Rivera then realized that Kahlo was his lifelong love. The house of the artist called La Casa Azul (the blue house) in the town of Coyacan, where she was born, was set up as a museum. More and more galleries demanded Frida's work. The direction in which she painted was heralded as neo-Mexican realism. The country appreciated her passion for patriotism, promotion of local culture, and the world wanted to know more about this strong, talented and extraordinary woman.

Frida Kahlo - images of pop culture

Even during Fried's lifetime, among others, two covers in the prestigious Vouge magazine, where the biggest stars of culture still appear. In 1937, she had a session in an American edition, and two years later in a French one (in connection with her arrival in this country and the appearance of works in the Louvre). Of course, on the cover, Kahlo appeared in a colorful Mexican attire, with flowers on her head and in luxurious sparkling gold jewelry.

After her death, when everyone started talking about Frida, her work began to inspire other artists. In 1983, the premiere of the first film about the painter called "Frida, Natural Life" took place in Mexico, which was a great success and aroused increasing interest in the title character. In the US, an opera was staged in 1991 called "Frida" arranged by Robert Xavier Rodriguez. In 1994, American musician James Newton released an album called Suite for Frida Kahlo. On the other hand, the artist’s painting “Broken Column” (meaning the corset and stiffeners that the painter had to wear after the accident) inspired Jean Paul Gaultier to create a costume for Mila Jovovich in The Fifth Element.

In 2001, Frida's portrait appeared on US postage stamps. A year later, the famous film called "Frida" was released, where Salma Hayek played the main role with bravado. This biographical performance was shown and appreciated all over the world. The audience was touched by the fate of the artist and admired her paintings. Also, musicians from the British group Coldplay, inspired by the image of Frida Kahlo, created the song "Viva la Vida", which became the main single of the album "Viva la Vida, or Death and all his friends." In Poland, in 2017, the premiere of a theatrical play by Jakub Przebindowski called “Frida. Life, Art, Revolution".

Frida's painting has left its mark not only in culture. On July 6, 2010, the artist's birthday, Google wove an image of Frida into their logo to honor her memory and changed the font to one similar to the artist's style. It was then that the Bank of Mexico issued a 500 peso note with its front side. Frida's character appeared even in the children's fairy tale "Coco".

Her stories have been featured in numerous books and biographies. Mexican styles also began to appear as carnival costumes, and paintings of the painter became the motif of posters, gadgets and home decoration. It's simple and Frida's personality is still fascinating and admirable, and her original style and art are still relevant. That is why it is worth seeing how it all began, to see that this is not only fashion, painting, but also a real icon and heroine.

How do you like Frida's paintings? Have you watched the movies or read Kahlo's biography?