Frieda Khalo was a woman artist that portrayed pain and suffering through her paintings. She painted mainly about the anguish that she had suffered throughout her life. Born in Mexico City in 1907, Khalo had been in a tragic car accident at the age of eighteen, and her health was permanently damaged for the rest of her life.
Self-portrait
as a Tehuana, 1943, Private Collection.
Frieda spent much of her time laid up in bed, painting. She painted her own features many times, usually presenting her face as a calm and beautiful mask, surrounded by fantastic symbols. All of these stunning self-portraits told you an enormous amount about her life and hardships.
Frieda and Diego Rivera, 1931. Oil. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
She also painted her husband, political muralist Diego Rivera, many times, but not in an appealing way. They had a very rocky relationship, and Frieda was left many times with a broken heart.
The
Two Friedas, 1939. Collection of the Mexico City Museum of Modern Art.
Frieda Khalo was a woman that found a love in painting, and it became her only comfort. Many of her paintings were done in a "folk art" style and most of them are self-portraits. Frieda Khalo died in 1954 after becoming one of the only women of her time to be seriously recognized as a successful woman artist.
