Text: Maria Mikhantieva
A Frida Kahlo retrospective is being held in St. Petersburg until the end of April.- a great Mexican artist who became the soul and heart of women's painting throughout the world. It is customary to tell about Frida’s life through the story of overcoming physical pain, however, as is usually the case, this is only one aspect of a complex and multifaceted path. Frida Kahlo was not just the wife of the renowned painter Diego Rivera or a symbol of mental and physical strength - all her life the artist wrote, starting from her own internal contradictions, complex relationships with independence and love, talking about the one she knew best - herself.
The biography of Frida Kahlo is more or less known to everyone who watched Julie Taymor's film with Salma Hayek: carefree childhood and youth, a terrible accident, an almost accidental passion for painting, meeting the artist Diego Rivera, marriage and the eternal status of “everything is complicated.” Physical pain, mental pain, self-portraits, abortions and miscarriages, communism, romance novels, worldwide fame, slow fading and long-awaited death: “I hope that leaving will be successful and I will not return again,” sleeping Frida flies into eternity on the bed.
We don’t know whether the departure itself was successful, but for the first twenty years after it it seemed that Frida’s wish had been fulfilled: she was forgotten everywhere except her native Mexico, where a house-museum was opened almost immediately. In the late 1970s, in the wake of interest in women's art and neo-Mexicanism, her works began to appear occasionally at exhibitions. However, in 1981 in the dictionary contemporary art The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Art gave her just one line: “Kahlo, Frida. See Rivera, Diego Maria.”
“There were two accidents in my life: one was when a bus crashed into a tram, the other was Diego,” said Frida. The first accident made her start painting, the second made her an artist. The first one felt physical pain all my life, the second caused mental pain. These two experiences subsequently became the main themes of her paintings. If the car accident was indeed a fatal accident (Frida was supposed to be on another bus, but got off halfway to look for a forgotten umbrella), then the difficult relationship (after all, Diego Rivera was not the only one) was inevitable due to the contradictions of her nature, in which combined strength and independence with sacrifice and obsession.
"Frida and Diego Rivera", 1931
I had to learn to be strong as a child: first by helping my father survive attacks of epilepsy, and then by coping with the consequences of polio. Frida played football and boxing; at school she was part of a gang of “cachuchas” - hooligans and intellectuals. When management educational institution invited Rivera, then already a recognized master, to do the mural painting, she rubbed soap on the steps of the stairs to see how this man with the face of a toad and the physique of an elephant would slip. She considered girls' company banal, preferred to be friends with boys and dated the most popular and intelligent of them, who was also several grades older.
But having fallen in love, Frida seemed to lose the mind that she so valued in people. She could literally pursue the object of her passion, bombarding her with letters, seducing and manipulating, all in order to then play the role of a faithful companion. This was how her marriage to Diego Rivera was at first. They both cheated, separated and got back together, but, if you believe the memories of friends, Frida more often gave in, trying to preserve the relationship. “She treated him like a beloved dog,” one friend recalled. “He’s with her like he’s with his favorite thing.” Even in the “wedding” portrait of “Frida and Diego Rivera” only one of the two artists is depicted with professional attributes, a palette and brushes - and this is not Frida.
While Diego painted frescoes for days on end, spending the night on scaffolding, she brought him lunch baskets, took care of bills, saved on much-needed medical procedures (Diego spent a lot of money on his collection of pre-Columbian statues), listened attentively and accompanied him at exhibitions. Under the influence of her husband, her paintings also changed: if Frida painted her very first portraits, imitating Renaissance artists from art albums, then thanks to Diego they were imbued with those glorified by the revolution national traditions Mexico: the naivety of the retablo, Indian motifs and the aesthetics of Mexican Catholicism with its theatricalization of suffering, combining the image of bleeding wounds with the splendor of flowers, lace and ribbons.
"Alejandro Gomez Arias", 1928
To please her husband, she even changed her jeans and leather jackets on full skirts and became a “tehuana”. This image was completely devoid of any authenticity, since Frida combined clothes and accessories from different social groups and eras, she could wear an Indian skirt with a Creole blouse and earrings by Picasso. In the end, her ingenuity turned this masquerade into separate species art: having started dressing for her husband, she continued to create unique images for her own pleasure. In her diary, Frida noted that the costume was also a self-portrait; her dresses became characters in paintings, and now accompany them at exhibitions. If the paintings were a reflection of the inner storm, then the costumes became its armor. It is no coincidence that a year after the divorce, “Self-portrait with cropped hair” appeared, in which a men’s suit took the place of skirts and ribbons - Frida once posed in something similar for a family portrait long before meeting Diego.
The first serious attempt to get out of the influence of her husband was the decision to give birth. Natural childbirth were impossible, but there was still hope for C-section. Frida was rushing about. On the one hand, she passionately wanted to continue the family line, to extend further that red ribbon, which she would later depict in the painting “My Grandparents, My Parents and Me,” to get “little Diego” at her disposal. On the other hand, Frida understood that the birth of a child would tie her to home, interfere with her work and alienate her from Rivera, who was categorically against children. In her first letters to family friend Dr. Leo Eloisseur, pregnant Frida asks which option would cause less harm to her health, but without waiting for an answer, she decides to continue the pregnancy and does not back down. Paradoxically, the choice that is usually imposed on a woman “by default”, in Frida’s case, becomes a rebellion against her husband’s guardianship.
Unfortunately, the pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Instead of “little Diego”, “Henry Ford Hospital” was born - one of the saddest works, which began a series of “bloody” paintings. Perhaps this was the first time in the history of art when an artist spoke with extreme, almost physiological honesty about women’s pain, so much so that men’s legs gave way. Four years later, the organizer of her Paris exhibition, Pierre Collet, did not even immediately decide to exhibit these paintings, considering them too shocking.
Finally, that part of a woman’s life that had always been bashfully hidden from prying eyes was revealed
in a work of art
Misfortunes haunted Frida: after the death of her child, she experienced the death of her mother, and one can only guess what a blow Diego’s next affair was for her, this time with her younger sister. She, however, blamed herself and was ready to forgive, just not to become a “hysterical” - her thoughts on this matter are painfully similar to the age-old thesis that “”. But in the case of Frida, humility and the ability to endure went hand in hand with black humor and irony.
Feeling her inferiority, the insignificance of her feelings compared to men’s, she brought this experience to the point of absurdity in the film “A Few Small Pricks”. “I just poked her a few times,” said a man who stabbed his girlfriend to death in court. Having learned about this story from the newspapers, Frida wrote a work full of sarcasm, literally drenched in blood (spots of red paint “splashed out” even onto the frame). A calm killer stands above the bloody body of a woman (his hat is a hint of Diego), and above, like a mockery, floats the name written on a ribbon held by doves, so similar to a wedding decoration.
Among Rivera's fans, there is an opinion that Frida's paintings are “salon painting.” Perhaps, at first, Frida herself would have agreed with this. She was always critical of her own work, did not seek to make friends with gallerists and dealers, and when someone bought her paintings, she often complained that the money could have been spent more profitably. There was some coquetry in this, but, frankly speaking, it is difficult to feel confident when your husband is a recognized master who works all day long, and you are a self-taught person who can hardly find time for painting between housework and medical operations. “The works of the budding artist are definitely significant and threaten even her crowned laurels famous husband", was written in the press release for Frida's first New York exhibition (1938); “little Frida” - that’s what the author of the TIME publication called her. By that time, the “beginner” “little one” had been writing for nine years.
"Roots", 1943
But the lack of high expectations gave complete freedom. “I write myself because I spend a lot of time alone and because I am the topic that I know best,” Frida said, and in addressing this “topic” there was not only subjectivity, but also subjectivity. The women who posed for Diego turned into nameless allegories in his frescoes; Frida has always been the main character. This position was strengthened by doubling portraits: she often painted herself simultaneously in different images and hypostases. The large canvas “Two Fridas” was created during the divorce proceedings; on it, Frida wrote herself “beloved” (on the right, in a Tehuan costume) and “unloved” (in a Victorian dress, bleeding), as if declaring that she was now her own “other half.” In the painting "My Birth", created shortly after her first miscarriage, she depicts herself as a newborn, but obviously also associates it with the figure of the mother, whose face is hidden.
The New York exhibition mentioned above helped Frida become freer. For the first time, she felt independent: she went to New York alone, met people, received orders for portraits and started affairs, not because her husband was too busy, but because she liked it that way. The exhibition was generally received favorably. Of course, there were critics who said that Frida’s paintings were too “gynecological,” but this was rather a compliment: finally, that part of a woman’s life, which theorists of “female destiny” had been talking about for centuries, but which was always bashfully hidden from prying eyes, was revealed in a work of art.
The New York exhibition was followed by a Paris exhibition, organized with the direct participation of Andre Breton, who considered Frida a prominent surrealist. She agreed to the exhibition, but carefully rejected surrealism. There are many symbols on Frida’s canvases, but there are no hints: everything is obvious, like an illustration from an anatomical atlas, and at the same time flavored with excellent humor. The dreaminess and decadence inherent in the surrealists irritated her; their nightmares and Freudian projections seemed like childish babble compared to what she experienced in reality: “Ever since [the accident], I have been obsessed with the idea of depicting things as my eyes see them, and nothing more." “She has no illusions,” Rivera chimed in.
roots, stems and fruits, and in the diary entries the refrain is “Diego is my child.”
It became impossible to be a mother to her husband after a series of spinal surgeries and amputations: first a pair of toes on the right foot, then the entire lower leg. Frida habitually endured the pain, but was afraid of losing her mobility. Nevertheless, she was brave: when preparing for the operation, she put on one of the best dresses, and for the prosthesis she ordered a red leather boot with embroidery. Despite her serious condition, dependence on narcotic painkillers and mood swings, she was preparing for the 25th anniversary of her first wedding and even persuaded Diego to take her to a communist demonstration. Continuing to work from last bit of strength, at some point thought about making her paintings more political, which seemed unthinkable after so many years spent depicting personal experiences. Perhaps, if Frida had survived the illness, we would have gotten to know her from a new, unexpected side. But pneumonia, caught at that very demonstration, ended the artist’s life on July 13, 1954.
“For twelve years of work, everything was excluded that did not come from the inner lyrical motivation that made me write,” Frida explained in an application for a Guggenheim Foundation grant in 1940, “Because my themes were always my own feelings, the state of my mind and responses to what life put into me, I often embodied all this in the image of myself, which was the most sincere and real, so I could express everything that was happening in me and in the outside world.”
"My Birth", 1932
Frida Kahlo de Rivera (Spanish: Frida Kahlo de Rivera), or Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo Calderón (Spanish: Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo Calderón; Coyoacan, Mexico City, July 6, 1907 - July 13, 1954), is a Mexican artist best known for her self-portraits.
Mexican culture and the art of the peoples of pre-Columbian America had a significant influence on her work. Artistic style Frida Kahlo is sometimes characterized as naïve art or folk art. The founder of surrealism, Andre Breton, ranked her among the surrealists.
She was in poor health throughout her life - she suffered from polio from the age of six, and also suffered a serious car accident as a teenager, after which she had to undergo numerous operations that affected her entire life. In 1929, she married the artist Diego Rivera, and, like him, supported the Communist Party.
Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacan, a suburb of Mexico City (she later changed her year of birth to 1910 - the year of the Mexican Revolution). Her father was photographer Guillermo Calo, originally from Germany. A widely accepted version, based on Frieda's claims, was that he was of Jewish origin, but later research suggests that he came from a German Lutheran family whose roots can be traced back to the 16th century. Frida's mother, Matilda Calderon, was Mexican with Indian roots. Frida Kahlo was the third child in the family. At the age of 6, she suffered from polio, after the illness she was left with a limp for the rest of her life, and her right leg became thinner than her left (which Kahlo hid under all her life). long skirts). Such an early experience of the struggle for the right to a full life strengthened Frida’s character.
Frida was involved in boxing and other sports. At the age of 15 she entered the “Preparatorium” (National preparatory school), one of best schools Mexico to study medicine. Of the 2,000 students in this school, there were only 35 women. Frida immediately gained authority by creating the closed group “Cachuchas” with eight other students. Her behavior was often called shocking.
In the Preparatory, her first meeting took place with her future husband, the famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera, who worked at the Preparatory School on the painting “Creation” from 1921 to 1923.
At the age of eighteen, on September 17, 1925, Frida was involved in a serious accident. The bus she was traveling on collided with a tram. Frida received serious injuries: a triple fracture of the spine (in the lumbar region), a fractured collarbone, broken ribs, a triple fracture of the pelvis, eleven fractures of the bones of the right leg, a crushed and dislocated right foot, and a dislocated shoulder. In addition, her stomach and uterus were pierced by metal railings. She was bedridden for a year, and health problems remained for the rest of her life. Subsequently, Frida had to undergo several dozen operations, without leaving the hospital for months.
It was after the tragedy that she first asked her father for brushes and paints. A special stretcher was made for Frida, which allowed her to write while lying down. A large mirror was attached under the canopy of the bed so that she could see herself. The first painting was a self-portrait, which forever determined the main direction of creativity: “I paint myself because I spend a lot of time alone and because I am the topic that I know best.”
In 1928 she joined the Mexican Communist Party. In 1929, Diego Rivera married Frida. She was 22, he was 43. The spouses were brought together not only by art, but also by common political beliefs - communist. Their stormy life together became a legend. Many years later, Frida said: “There were two accidents in my life: one was when a bus crashed into a tram, the other was Diego.” In the 1930s, Frida lived for some time in the USA, where her husband worked. This forced long stay abroad, in a developed industrial country, made her more acutely aware of national differences.
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Kahlo Frida, Mexican artist and graphic artist, wife of Diego Rivera, master of surrealism. Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico City in 1907, in the family of a Jewish photographer, originally from Germany. Mother is Spanish, born in America. She suffered from polio at the age of six, and since then her right leg has become shorter and thinner than her left. At the age of eighteen, on September 17, 1925, Kahlo was in a car accident: a broken iron rod from a tram's current collector stuck in her stomach and came out at her groin, shattering her hip bone. The spine was damaged in three places, two hips and a leg were broken in eleven places. Doctors could not vouch for her life. The painful months of motionless inaction began. It was at this time that Kahlo asked her father for a brush and paints. For Frida Kahlo, they made a special stretcher that allowed her to write while lying down. A large mirror was attached under the canopy of the bed so that Frida Kahlo could see herself. She started with self-portraits. I write myself because I spend a lot of time alone and because I am the subject I know best.
In 1929, Frida Kahlo entered the National Institute of Mexico. During a year spent in almost complete immobility, Kahlo became seriously interested in painting. Having started walking again, I visited art school and in 1928 joined the Communist Party. Her work was highly appreciated by the already famous communist artist Diego Rivera.
At 22, Frida Kahlo married him. Their family life seething with passions. They could not always be together, but never apart. They shared a relationship - passionate, obsessive and sometimes painful. An ancient sage said about such relationships: It is impossible to live either with you or without you. Frida Kahlo's relationship with Trotsky is shrouded in a romantic aura. Mexican artist admired the tribune of the Russian revolution, was very upset about his expulsion from the USSR and was happy that, thanks to Diego Rivera, he found shelter in Mexico City. Most of all in life, Frida Kahlo loved life itself - and this magnetically attracted men and women to her. Despite the excruciating physical suffering, she could have fun from the heart and carouse widely. But the damaged spine constantly reminded of itself. From time to time, Frida Kahlo had to go to the hospital and almost constantly wear special corsets. In 1950, she underwent 7 spinal surgeries, spent 9 months in a hospital bed, after which she could only move in a wheelchair.
In 1952, Frida Kahlo's right leg was amputated at the knee. In 1953, Frida Kahlo's first solo exhibition took place in Mexico City. In not a single self-portrait does Frida Kahlo smile: a serious, even mournful face, fused thick eyebrows, a barely noticeable mustache above tightly compressed sensual lips. The ideas of her paintings are encrypted in the details, background, figures appearing next to Frida. Kahlo's symbolism is based on national traditions and is closely connected with Indian mythology of the pre-Hispanic period. Frida Kahlo knew the history of her homeland brilliantly. Many authentic monuments ancient culture, which Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo collected throughout their lives, is located in the garden of the Blue House (house museum). Frida Kahlo died of pneumonia a week after celebrating her 47th birthday, on July 13, 1954. Farewell to Frida Kahlo took place at Bellas Artes - Palace fine arts. IN last path Frida, along with Diego Rivera, was escorted by Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas, artists, writers - Siqueiros, Emma Hurtado, Victor Manuel Villaseñor and other famous figures of Mexico.
Mexican artist Frida Kahlo... How much noise there is in lately around her name in the art world! But at the same time, how little we know about the biography of Frida Kahlo, this original, unique artist. What image appears in our minds when we hear her name? Many people probably imagine a woman with thick black eyebrows fused at the bridge of her nose, a soulful gaze, and neatly tied hair. This woman is certainly dressed in a bright ethnic costume. Add here a complex dramatic fate and huge amount self-portraits that she left behind.
So how can we explain the sudden interest in the work of this Mexican artist? How did she, a woman with amazing tragic fate, to conquer and make the art world tremble? We invite you to take a short journey through the pages of Frida Kahlo’s life, learn a little more about her extraordinary work and find answers to these and many other questions for yourself.
The mystery of the unusual name
The biography of Frida Kahlo fascinates from the very first days of her difficult life.
On July 6, 1907, something happened in the family of a simple Mexican photographer Guillermo Calo. significant event. The future talented artist Frida Kahlo was born, showing the whole world the originality of Mexican culture.
At birth, the girl received the name Magdalena. The full Spanish version is: Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo Calderon. The future artist began to use the name Frida, by which she became known throughout the world, in order to emphasize the German origin of her family (as is known, her father was from Germany). It is also worth noting that Frieda is consonant with the German word Frieden, which means calm, peace, quiet.
Formation of character
Frida grew up in a feminine environment. She was the third of four daughters in the family and, in addition, had two older sisters from her father's first marriage. In addition to this circumstance, the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917 had a significant impact on the development of her character. Serious economic crisis, civil war, constant violence and shooting around hardened Frida, instilling in her fortitude and the desire to fight for a happy life.
However, the story of Frida Kahlo would not be so tragic and unique if her misadventures ended there. While still a child, at the age of 6, Frida fell ill with polio. As a result of this terrible disease, her right leg became thinner than her left, and Frida herself remained lame.
First inspiration
12 years later, on September 17, 1925, Frida again suffered misfortune. A young girl was in a car accident. The bus she was traveling in collided with a tram. For many passengers, the accident was fatal. What happened to Frida?
The girl was sitting not far from the handrail, which came off during the impact, piercing her through and damaging her stomach and uterus. She also received severe injuries, touching almost all parts of her body: spine, ribs, pelvis, legs and shoulders. Frida was never able to get rid of many health problems caused by the accident. Fortunately, she survived, but was never able to have children again. There are three known attempts by her to carry a child, each of which ended in miscarriage.
Young, plump vitality, open to the world and bringing light and joy into him, Frida, who just yesterday was running to classes and dreaming of becoming a doctor, is now chained to a hospital bed. She had to undergo dozens of surgeries and spend hundreds of hours in hospitals to save her life. Now she can’t look at white coats without disgust - she’s so tired of hospitals. But, no matter how sad it all may seem, this period became the beginning of her new life.
Bedridden, unable to walk or take care of herself, Frida Kahlo discovered her talent. To avoid going crazy from boredom, Frida painted her bandage corset. The girl liked the activity and started drawing.
Frida Kahlo's first paintings appeared in a hospital room. Her parents ordered her a special stretcher so that Frida could paint while lying down. A mirror was installed under the ceiling. Her father brought her his oil paints. And Frida began to create. Frida Kahlo's first self-portraits gradually began to appear. Below is one of them - “Self-portrait in a velvet dress.”
In the hospital, Frida realized that even if she could not tell people all her pain with words, she could easily do it through paint and canvas. This is how the new Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was “born”.
Personal life
Speaking about the biography of Frida Kahlo, it is absolutely impossible to ignore the person who played a key role in her life. This man's name is Diego Rivera.
“There have been two accidents in my life. The first is a tram, the second is Diego Rivera. The second one is worse."
This famous quote by Frida Kahlo very accurately reflects the difficult character of her husband and the overall relationship of the Mexican couple. If the first tragedy, having mutilated Frida’s body, pushed her to creativity, then the second left indelible scars on her soul, developing both pain and talent.
Diego Rivera was a successful Mexican muralist. Not only artistic talent, but also political convictions - he was a supporter of communist ideas - and countless love adventures glorified his name. Future husband Frida Kahlo was not particularly handsome; he was a rather obese, somewhat clumsy man; in addition, they were separated by a huge age difference - 21 years. But, despite this, he managed to win the heart of the young artist.
Frida Kahlo's husband actually became the center of the universe for her. She frantically painted his portraits, forgave his endless betrayals and was ready to forget his betrayals.
Love or betrayal?
The romance between Frida and Diego had it all: unbridled passion, extraordinary devotion, great love inextricably linked with betrayal, jealousy and pain.
Look at the picture below. This is "The Broken Column", which Frida wrote in 1944, reflecting her sorrows.
Inside the body, once full of life and energy, a collapsing pillar can be seen. The support of this body is the spine. But there are also nails. Lots of nails that represent the pain brought by Diego Rivera. As mentioned above, he was not ashamed to cheat on Frida. Frida’s sister became his next mistress, which turned out to be a blow for her. Diego responded to this like this: “This is just physical attraction. Are you saying it hurts? But no, it's just a couple of scratches."
Very soon, one of Frida Kahlo’s paintings will receive a title based on these words: “Just a few scratches!”
Diego Rivera was truly a man with a very complex character. However, this is what inspired the artist Frida Kahlo. It inspired through pain, connecting two strong personalities ever more tightly. He exhausted her, but at the same time he loved and respected her immensely.
Significant paintings of Frida Kahlo
Looking at the considerable number of self-portraits that the Mexican artist left behind, there is no doubt that for her they were not just a way to express her creative impulses, but above all an opportunity to tell the world the story of her life - a complex and dramatic life. It is worth paying attention to the titles of the paintings themselves: “Broken Column”, “Just a Few Scratches!”, “Self-Portrait in a Necklace of Thorns”, “Two Fridas”, “Self-Portrait on the Border between Mexico and the United States”, “Wounded Deer” and other. The names are very specific and indicative. In total, there are 55 self-portraits of Frida Kahlo, and according to this indicator, she is a real record holder among artists! For comparison, the brilliant impressionist Vincent van Gogh painted himself only about 20 times.
Where is Frida Kahlo's property now kept?
Today, in addition to the official English-language website, many of Frida's surviving self-portraits can be seen in the Frida Kahlo Museum in Coyoacan (Mexico). There is also an opportunity to get acquainted with the life and delve into the work of the original artist, since it was in this house that she spent most of her life. The museum staff does their best not to disturb the extravagant atmosphere that was created by this extraordinary woman.
Let's take a closer look at some self-portraits.
In the early 1930s, Frida Kahlo traveled to America with her husband. The artist did not like this country and was convinced that they lived there solely for the sake of money.
Look at the picture. On America's side there are pipes, factories, and equipment. Everything is shrouded in clouds of smoke. On the Mexican side, on the contrary, flowers, luminaries and ancient idols are visible. This is how the artist shows how dear traditions and connections with nature and antiquity are to her, which cannot be found in America. In order to stand out from the background of fashionable American women, Frida did not stop wearing national clothes and retained the features inherent in Mexican women.
In 1939, Frida painted one of her iconic self-portraits - “Two Fridas”, in which she reveals the wounds tormenting her soul. This is where the very special, unique style of Frida Kahlo manifests itself. For many, this work is overly revealing and personal, but perhaps this is where the true power lies. human personality- is it about not being afraid to admit and show your weaknesses?
Polio, ridicule from peers, a serious accident that divided life into “before” and “after”, a difficult love story... Together with the self-portrait, another one appeared famous quote Frida Kahlo: “I am my soulmate, and Diego Rivera’s favorite tormentor will not be able to break me.”
Like most Mexicans, symbols and signs had special meaning for Frida. Like her husband, Frida Kahlo was a communist and did not believe in God, but due to the fact that her mother was Catholic, she was well versed in Christian symbolism.
So in this self-portrait, the image of the crown of thorns serves as a parallel with the crown of thorns of Jesus. Butterflies flutter over Frida's head - a well-known symbol of resurrection.
Frida paints a portrait in 1940 after her divorce from Diego Rivera, and therefore the monkey can be taken as an unambiguous hint of behavior ex-husband. On Frida's neck there is a hummingbird - a symbol of good luck. Perhaps this is how the artist expresses hope for a quick release from torment?
The theme of this work is close to the “Broken Column” we have already discussed. Here Frida again bares her soul to the viewer, reflecting on the emotional and physical pain she experiences.
The artist depicts herself as a graceful deer, whose body is pierced by arrows. Why did you choose this animal? There are suggestions that the artist associated suffering and death with him.
During the period when the self-portrait was being created, Frida’s health began to rapidly deteriorate. She developed gangrene, which required immediate amputation. Every second of Frida's life brought her excruciating pain. Hence the tragic and frightening in its doom motives of her latest self-portraits.
Dying Taunt
Frida Kahlo passed away on July 13, 1954. Contemporaries more than once spoke of her as interesting woman And amazing person. Even a brief acquaintance with the biography of Frida Kahlo leaves no doubt that fate has truly prepared for her hard life full of suffering and pain. Despite this, Frida last days she loved life and, like a magnet, attracted people to her.
Her last painting is Viva la Vida. Sandias also expresses a defiance of death and a willingness to persevere until the end, as clearly indicated by the red words: “Long live life!”
Question for art critics
Many are convinced that Frida Kahlo is a surrealist artist. In fact, she herself was rather cool about this title. Frida's creativity, distinguished by its originality, is interpreted differently by everyone. Some believe that this is naive art, others call it folk art. And yet the scales tip towards surrealism. Why? In conclusion, we present two arguments. Do you agree with them?
- Frida Kahlo's paintings are not real and are a figment of the imagination. It is impossible to reproduce them in the earthly dimension.
- Her self-portraits are firmly connected to the subconscious. If we compare him with the recognized genius of surrealism Salvador Dali, then we can draw the following analogy. In his works, he played with the subconscious, as if walking through the land of dreams and shocking the audience. Frida, on the contrary, exposed her soul on canvas, thereby attracting the viewer to her and conquering the world of art.
Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico City in 1907. She is the third daughter of Gulermo and Matilda Kahlo. Father is a photographer, Jewish by origin, originally from Germany. Mother is Spanish, born in America. Frida Kahlo contracted polio at the age of 6, which left her with a limp. “Frida has a wooden leg,” her peers cruelly teased her. And she, in defiance of everyone, swam, played football with the boys and even took up boxing. I put 3-4 stockings on my leg to make it look healthy.
The physical defect was helped to hide by trousers, and after marriage - by long national dresses, which are still worn in the state of Oaxaca and which Diego liked so much. Frida first appeared in such a dress at their wedding, having borrowed it from a maid.
The car accident occurred on the rainy evening of September 17, 1925. The car in which Frida was traveling with her school friend collided with a tram. The blow was so strong that the guy was thrown out of the car. But he got off easily - only with shell shock. And Frida... The broken iron rod of the tram's current collector stuck into the stomach and came out at the groin, crushing the hip bone. The spine was damaged in three places, two hips and a leg were broken. Doctors could not vouch for her life. Frida Kahlo was 18 years old. And she won.
The painful months of motionless inaction began. It was at this time that she asked her father for a brush and paints. A special stretcher was made for Frida, which allowed her to write while lying down. A large mirror was attached under the canopy of the bed so that Frida could see herself. She started with self-portraits: “I paint myself because I spend a lot of time alone and because I am the subject I know best.”
At the age of 22, Frida Kahlo entered the most prestigious institute in Mexico (national preparatory school). Out of 1000 students, only 35 girls were accepted. There Frida Kahlo meets her future husband Diego Rivera, who has just returned home from France.
On the wedding day, Diego showed his explosive temper. The 42-year-old newlywed drank a little too much tequila and began firing a pistol into the air. The exhortations only inflamed the wild artist. The first family scandal occurred. The 22-year-old wife went to her parents. After waking up, Diego asked for forgiveness and was forgiven.
The newlyweds moved into their first apartment, and then into the now famous “blue house” on Londres Street in Coyaocan, the most “bohemian” area of Mexico City, where they lived for many years.
Their family life was seething with passions. They could not always be together, but never apart. They shared a relationship that, according to one friend, was “passionate, obsessive and sometimes painful.”
In 1934, Diego Rivera cheated on Frida with her younger sister Cristina, who posed for him. He did this openly, realizing that he was insulting his wife, but did not want to break off relations with her. The blow for Frida was cruel. Proud, she did not want to share her pain with anyone - she just splashed it out on the canvas.
The result was a picture, perhaps the most tragic in her work: a nude female body cut with bloody wounds. Next to him, with a knife in his hand, with an indifferent face, is the one who inflicted these wounds. "Just a few scratches!" - the ironic Frida called the canvas.
After Diego's betrayal, she decided that she also has the right to love interests. This infuriated Rivera. Taking liberties, he was intolerant of Frida’s betrayals - famous artist was painfully jealous. One day, having found his wife with the American sculptor Isama Noguchi, Diego pulled out a pistol, but, fortunately, did not fire.
Frida Kahlo's relationship with Trotsky is shrouded in a romantic aura. The Mexican artist admired the “tribune of the Russian revolution”, was very upset about his expulsion from the USSR and was happy that, thanks to Diego Rivera, he found shelter in Mexico City.
In January 1937, Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalya Sedova went ashore in the Mexican port of Tampico. They were met by Frida - Diego was then in the hospital. The artist brought the exiles to her “blue house”, where they finally found peace and quiet.
Bright, interesting, charming Frida (after a few minutes of communication no one noticed her painful injuries) instantly captivated the guests. The almost 60-year-old revolutionary was carried away like a boy. He tried in every possible way to express his tenderness. Sometimes he touched her hand as if by chance, sometimes he secretly touched her knee under the table. He wrote passionate notes and, putting them in a book, handed them over right in front of his wife and Rivera.
Natalya Sedova guessed about the love affair, but Diego, they say, never found out about it. “I’m very tired of the old man,” Frida allegedly said one day in a circle of close friends and broke off the short romance.
There is another version of this story. The young Trotskyist allegedly could not resist the pressure of the tribune of the revolution. Their secret meeting took place in the country estate of San Miguel Regla, 130 kilometers from Mexico City. However, Sedova kept a vigilant eye on her husband, and the affair was nipped in the bud. Begging his wife for forgiveness, Trotsky called himself “her old faithful dog.” After this, the exiles left the Blue House. But these are rumors. There is no evidence of this romantic connection.
Most of all in life, Frida loved life itself - and this magnetically attracted men and women to her. Despite the excruciating physical suffering, she sparkled with humor, could laugh until exhaustion, make fun of herself, have fun and revel from the heart. And only after taking up the brush did she allow herself to think about the inevitable.
She dreamed of having a child, but a terrible injury did not allow her to have children. Three pregnancies - and this was a real feat in her situation - ended tragically. And then she began to draw children. Most often - dead, although most of her paintings, still lifes, and landscapes are permeated with sun and light.
Frida was a communist. She joined the Mexican Communist Party in 1928, but left a year later following the expulsion of Diego Rivera. And ten years later, true to her ideological convictions, she again joined the Communist Party. In her house, on the bookshelves there are tattered, well-read volumes of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin’s works; next to it is Zinoviev, published in 1943 in Mexico City; right there is Grossman’s journalism dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War, and the completely unexpected “Genetics in the USSR”.
In the bedroom, at the head of the bed, hang large portraits of the founders of Marxism-Leninism and their most talented followers. In particular, Mao Zedong in a beautiful wooden frame. an enlarged photograph, also in a frame: Lenin speaks from the rostrum on Red Square in front of the Red Army soldiers leaving for the front. A wheelchair stands next to a stretcher, an unfinished portrait of Stalin on canvas. The leader is depicted stern, with frowning eyebrows, in a white ceremonial jacket, with one golden marshal's shoulder strap. Frida didn’t have time to draw the second shoulder strap...
The damaged spine was a constant reminder of itself. From time to time, Frida Kahlo had to go to the hospital and almost constantly wear special corsets. In 1950, she underwent 7 spinal surgeries and spent 9 months in a hospital bed. Now she can only get around in a wheelchair.
Two years later, a new tragedy occurs: her right leg is amputated at the knee. And, as a consolation, in the same year, 1953, the first personal exhibition of Frida Kahlo took place. She's happy. She, as always, laughs and makes fun of herself a little. That's what a celebrity I am, they say. No worse than Rivera...
And at home in the tiny bedroom (it is carefully preserved by the guardians of the “blue house”) large bright painted butterflies flutter on the ceiling. Looking at them, Frida calms down, the pain subsides, and she falls asleep, so that when she wakes up, she takes up her brush again.
In not a single self-portrait does Frida smile: a serious, even mournful face, fused thick eyebrows, a barely noticeable black mustache above tightly compressed sensual lips. The idea of her paintings is encrypted in the details, the background, the figures appearing next to Frida. The artist’s symbolism, art historians say, is based on national traditions and is closely connected with Indian mythology of the pre-Hispanic period.
Frida Kahlo knew the history of her homeland brilliantly. Many authentic monuments of ancient culture, which Diego and Frida collected all their lives, are now in the garden of the “blue house”. Stone idols and the same stone animals were buried under palm trees and cacti. Indian masks peek out here and there. There is even a rarity here for something else ethnographic museum- a stone slab with a ring for playing ball, an ancient and completely harmless pastime of the Mexican Indians: after all, the captain of the losing team was sacrificed to the gods.
Frida Kahlo died of pneumonia a week after celebrating her 47th birthday, on Tuesday July 13, 1954. The next day, her loved ones collected her favorite jewelry, including an ancient, pre-Columbian necklace, cheap, simple things made from seashells, which she especially loved, and put it all in a gray coffin installed in the Bellas Artes - Palace of Fine Arts .
The coffin was covered with a black blanket, which went down to the floor, strewn with red roses. Frida Kahlo's classmate Arturo Garcia Bustos, like her, passionate about revolutionary ideas, brought a red banner with a hammer and sickle in the center of a white star and placed it on the coffin. A scandal arose, which was quickly hushed up by removing the banner. Standing next to Diego Rivera former president Mexico Lazaro Cardenas, famous artists, writers Siqueiros, Emma Hurtado, Victor Manuel Villaseñor.