Frida Kahlo: A Mexican Surrealist Artist
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist, famous for her self-reflective, Surrealist paintings. She was born in 1907 and died from pneumonia and other complications in 1954 at the mere age of forty-seven. Frida was the daughter of Guillermo Kahlo, a Hungarian Jew and notable Mexican photographer, and Matilde Calderon, who was of Spanish and Indian descent (Taschen, 7). Although Guillermo had two daughters from a previous marriage, Frida was the first daughter to be born to he and his second wife, Matilde.
Frida's mother became pregnant again very soon after Frida's birth and was therefore unable to nurse Frida. Because of this, Frida had a wet nurse and never felt truly connected to her mother (Herrera, 14). On the other hand, Frida was extremely close with her father. In fact, her father viewed her as his favorite child (Herrera, 18). They spent a great deal of time together, during which Guillermo taught Frida how to retouch photographs. Frida also accompanied her father on many of his photo shots (Herrera, 21).
Frida contracted polio at the age of seven which consequently held her back a year in school and left her with an atrophied leg. [See http://www.cascade.net/kahlo. html] As a means of protecting herself from being made fun of for her unhealthy leg, Frida became eccentric and played mainly with boys (Herrera, 29). In fact, was a part of a group nicknamed the "Cachuchas" which consisted of seven boys and only two girls (Herrera, 31). Additionally, Frida developed an imaginary friend who was able to dance rather than limp as Frida often did. This imaginary friend became a confidant with whom Frida shared her "secret problems (Herrera, 29)."
Frida entered the National Preparato...
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...t thoughts to the public, Frida opened up a new domain of art, just as Sigmund Freud was able to do in the domain of psychology. She was truly a creative individual.
Works Cited
Aragon, Luis Cardozay. Mexican Art Today. Fondo De Cultura Economica, Mexico, 1996.
Cooey, Paula M. Religious Imagination and the Body. Oxford University Press, New York, 1994.
Gardner, Howard. Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity. HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York, 1993.
Herrera, Hayden. Frida Kahlo: The Paintings. HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York, 1991.
Kahlo, Frida. The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1995.
Taschen, Benedikt. Frida Kahlo: Pain and Passion. Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, 1992.
Tibol, Raquel. Frida Kahlo: An Open Life. University of New Mexico Press. Mexico, 1993.
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