Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderon better known as Frida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter born in Coayacan. She is possibly best known for her self-portraits, her work is recalled for its pain and passion and its strong vibrant colors. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as representative of national and its indigenous tradition and by feminists for its rigid portrayal of the female experience and form. Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coayacan, Mexico. She was one of four daughters born to a Hungarian-Jewish father and a mother of Spanish and Mexican Indian descent. Becoming an artist was never the original plan for Frida. After surviving polio, at the age of 6, which left her right leg thinner than her left leg, she entered a pre-med program in Mexico City. At the age of 18, Kahlo suffered serious injuries as a result of a bus accident; such accident left her with a broken spinal column, broken collarbone, broken ribs, broken pelvis, and eleven fractures in her right leg and a dislocated shoulder. Not only did she brake almost every part of her body causing her to be in a full body cast for about 3 months, but an iron handrail penetrated her abdomen and her uterus, compromising her reproductive ability (Falini). Kahlo spent over a year in bed recuperating, in which she had to go through about 35 operations all through her lifetime. It was throughout this time that she began to paint and quit pre-med. Isolation was one of the numerous things that influenced her artwork. Her paintings, which were mostly self-portraits and still life, were knowingly sophisticated and filled of vibrant colors and forms of Mexican folk art. Kahlo also used surrealism, realism & traditional Mexican components Figure 1- Self-Portrait with monkey
Figure 1- Self-Portrait with monkey in her paintings. Recurrently she would include the symbolic monkey. She represented them as tender and protective symbols as seen in a 1938 self-portrait, showing them as friendly caring pets rather than symbols of envy as is believed in Mexican folklore. Being that Kahlo regularly painted self-portraits, when asked why, she said “I paint myself because I am so often alone, and because I am the subject I know best”. She made about 140 paintings along with dozens of drawings and studies. Out of her paintings, 55 of them were self-portraits which often revealed symbolic representations of physical and emotional wounds. Drawn from individual experiences, including her marriage, her miscarriages, and her numerous operations, Kahlo's works are characterized by their concepts of pain (The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo, 2005). Diego Rivera had a great effect on Frida's painting style. Frida had always respected Diego and his work. She first approached Diego in the Public Ministry of Education, where he had been working on a mural in 1927. She showed him four of her paintings, and asked whether he considered her artistic. Diego was impressed and said, "You have got talent." After that, he became a regular welcomed guest at Frida's house. He gave her many insights about her artwork while still leaving her space to discover herself. There is no hesitation that the positive and inspiring comments made by Diego held together Frida's wish to follow a career as an artist. They began an intimate relationship and were married in 1929, despite the displeasure of Frida's mother. Their marriage was often troubled. Kahlo and Rivera both had short-tempered characters and numerous extramarital relationships. The bisexual Kahlo had affairs with both men and women, including Isamu Noguchi and Josephine Baker. Rivera knew of and accepted her relationships with women, but her relationships with men made him jealous (In Loving Memory of Frida Kahlo, 2008). For her part, Kahlo was frantic when she learned that Rivera had an affair with her younger sister, Cristina. The couple divorced

in November 1939, but remarried in December 1940. Their second marriage was as bothered as

Figure 2- The Frame
Figure 2- The Frame the first. Their living accommodations were often separate, although sometimes nearby.
In 1938, Kahlo had her first and only solo gallery display in the United States at the Julien Levy Gallery. The works were well acknowledged and the event was attended by several noticeable artists. At the request of André Breton, she went to France during 1939 and was featured at an exhibition of her paintings in Paris. The Louvre bought one of her paintings,
The Frame, which was put on show at the exhibit. This was the first work by a twentieth-century Mexican artist to be bought by the renowned museum. During this time, she painted one of her most famous works, The Two Fridas (1939).
Kahlo received a assignment from the Mexican government for five portraits of important Mexican women in 1941, but she was unable to finish the project. She lost her beloved father that year and continued to suffer from chronic health problems. Despite her personal challenges, her work continued to grow in reputation and was included in numerous group shows around this time. In 1944, Kahlo painted The Broken Column, which represented a nearly nude Figure 3 - The Broken Column
Figure 3 - The Broken Column
Frida split down the middle revealing her spine as a crushed decorative column. She also wears a surgical brace and her skin is covered with tacks or nails. Again, Kahlo shared her physical challenges through her art. Around this time, she had several surgeries and wore special corsets to try to fix her back. She would continue to find a variety of treatments for her long-lasting physical pain with little accomplishment.
Her health issues turned out to be nearly all-consuming in 1950. After being diagnosed with gangrene in her right foot, Kahlo spent nine months in the hospital and had several operations during this time. She continued to paint and support political causes despite having limited movement. In 1953, Kahlo received her first solo exhibition in Mexico. She may have been confined to a bed at the time, but she did not miss out on the exhibition’s opening. Arriving by ambulance, Kahlo spent the evening chatting and celebrating with the event’s attendees from the coziness of a four-poster bed set up in the gallery just for her (The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo, 2005). Kahlo’s joy was dulled a few months later when part of her right leg was amputated to stop the spread of gangrene. Extremely depressed, Kahlo was hospitalized again in April 1954 because of poor health, or, as some rumors indicated, a suicide attempt. She returned to the hospital two months later with bronchial pneumonia. About a week after her 47th birthday, Kahlo passed away on July 13 at her beloved Blue House, where she grew up and lived her entire life. There has been some assumption regarding the nature of her death. It was reported to be caused by a pulmonary embolism, but there have also been stories about a possible suicide.
Interpretation of The Two Fridas Shortly after her divorce from Diego Rivera, Frida finalized this self-portrait of what seems to be two different personalities. In her diary Frida wrote that this painting originated from her memory of an unreal childhood friend. But later she confessed that it shows the feelings behind her separation and marital crisis. On the right, I believe that the part of herself that was loved and respected by Diego Rivera is the Mexican Frida in what appears to be a traditional Mexican attire. In her hand she is holding a charm that holds a photograph of Diego when he was a child. On the left is a rather more European Frida in a lacy white dress, the Frida that Diego abandoned. The heart of both Frida’s lie uncovered, a trick Frida frequently used to direct her pain. The unloved Frida’s heart is broken while the other Frida’s heart is in one piece. From the charm that Frida is holding springs a vein that journeys through both women’s heart and is finally cut by the scissors held in the lap of the rejected Frida. In misery, Frida tries to stop the flow from Diego but it keeps on leaking, in which she seems to be in danger of bleeding to death. The background which is the stormy sky filled with tense clouds can be possibly reflecting Frida’s anger towards what is going on in her life. And lastly by having both Frida’s hold hands, she is showing that she is her only confidante. Ever since her death, Kahlo’s reputation as an artist has only blossomed. Her cherished Blue House was opened as a museum in 1958. The feminist movement of the 1970s led to renewed curiosity in her life and work, as Kahlo was seen by many as an icon of female creativity.

Bibliography
Falini, D. (n.d.). Frida Kahlo & contemporary thoughts. Retrieved from Frida Kahlo: http://www.fridakahlo.it/en/biografia.php
In Loving Memory of Frida Kahlo. (2008, January ). Retrieved August 21, 2014, from Frida Kahlo Fans: http://www.fridakahlofans.com/biocomplete.html
The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo. (2005, March). Retrieved August 21, 2014, from PBS : http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/life/index.html