Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Caldern Frida Kahlo

Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón

Frida Kahlo 1907 -1954 • Born and lived in Mexico City • Developed polio at age 6 – One leg smaller than the other after that • Very bad bus crash at age 18 (1925) – 3 months in body cast, 35 surgeries – Pain off and on for the rest of her life – Started painting after the accident, even in bed 1932 • Married to Diego Rivera, another famous Mexican artist • Painted many self-portraits – 55 of her 143 known works • Not widely recognized as an artist until the 1980’s

Frida’s painting • Influenced by indigenous Mexican culture – Bright colors – Dramatic symbolism – Primitive style • Monkey frequently used as tender or protective symbol • Used religious symbols, but often combined them with surreal images

"I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best. "[

Frida Kahlo Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird

May 24, 2006 – Sotheby’s made auction history when a masterpiece by famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (lot 6) sold for $5, 616, 000 to an anonymous bidder on the telephone, setting a new record for a Latin American work of art at auction and for the artist at auction. Roots, 1943, oil on metal, one of the most beautifully detailed works from Kahlo’s most celebrated period, had never before appeared on the public market. Completed after Kahlo remarried her lifelong love, Diego Rivera, Roots symbolizes their unity after years of pain and suffering.

Frida’s Postage Stamp (2001) ØFirst Hispanic woman to be recognized with a postage stamp

The Frame 1937 -38 Self-portrait and blue background are on a sheet of Al Birds and flowers are painted on the backside of a piece of glass laid over the portrait First painting by a 20 th century Mexican artist to be purchased by the Louvre