Frida Kahlo
(1907–1954)
Painter Frida Kahlo was a Mexican self-portrait artist who was married to Diego Rivera and is still admired as a
feminist icon.
Synopsis
Artist Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, in Coyocoán, Mexico City, Mexico. Considered one of Mexico’s
greatest artists, Frida Kahlo began painting after she was severely injured in a bus accident. Kahlo later became
politically active and married fellow communist artist Diego Rivera in 1929. She exhibited her paintings in Paris
and Mexico before her death in 1954.
Early Life
Artist Frida Kahlo was born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón on July 6, 1907, in Coyocoán, Mexico City, Mexico. Considered one of Mexico’s greatest artists, Frida Kahlo began painting after she was severely
injured in a bus accident.
Kahlo grew up in the family’s home where she was born -- later referred as the Blue House or Casa Azul. Her
father, Wilhelm (also called Guillermo), was a German photographer who had immigrated to Mexico where he
met and married her mother Matilde. She had two older sisters, Matilde and Adriana, and her younger sister,
Cristina, was born the year after Frida. Around the age of 6, she contracted polio, which caused her to be bedridden for nine months. While she did recover from the illness, she limped when she walked.
Artistic Legacy
Since her death, at age 47, Kahlo’s fame as an artist has only grown. Her beloved Blue House was opened as a
museum in 1958. The feminist movement of the 1970s led to renewed interest in her life and work, as Kahlo was
viewed by many as an icon of female creativity. In 1983, Hayden Herrera’s book on the artist, A Biography of
Frida Kahlo, also helped to stir up interest this great artist. More recently, her life was the subject of a 2002 film
entitled Frida, starring Salma Hayek as the artist and Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera. Directed by Julie Taymor,
the film was nominated for six Academy Awards and won for Best Makeup and Original Score.
“ Frida Kahlo Biography - May 1, 2016:
Kahlo did not sell many paintings in her lifetime, although she painted occasional portraits on commission. She
had only one solo exhibition in Mexico in her lifetime, in 1953, just a year before her death at the age of 47.
Today, her works sell for very high prices. In May 2006, Frida Kahlo self-portrait, Roots, was sold for $5.62 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, sets a record as the most expensive Latin American work ever purchased
at auction, and also makes Frida Kahlo one of the highest-selling woman in art.
At the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City, her personal belongings are on display throughout the house, as if
she still lived there. Kahlo was born and grew up in this building, whose cobalt walls gave