Frida Kahlo

"The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other considerations" Frida Kahlo

This statement cannot begin define the artist know as Frida but it is a fitting description. Just as it is not easy to describe the beauty of a rose, the softness of its petals, the sweetness of its aroma or the sharpness of it's thorns, it is difficult to fully describe any woman but Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderon is an enigma.

Born into colonial Mexico on July 6, 1907, she always listed her birth year as 1910, not for vanity's sake but because that year was the beginning of the Mexican Revolution and the overthrow of Presidente Porfirio Diaz. Frida was born of revolution and great change. Born to Wilhelm Kahlo, a Jewish Hungarian native to Baden-Baden, Germany who immigrated to Mexico as a teenager and after a brief first marriage was then married to Catholic Mexican Matilde Calderon y Gonzalez. Frida was one of four daughters born to the reportedly loveless marriage and her life began its pattern of pain and turmoil early on.

At the age of six, Frida contracted Polio that left her with a smaller, thinner leg. That alone could not hold Frida back, though. Frida was an active, exciting girl with a zest for life who went on the study at the Preporatoria, a prestigious school for pre-med in Mexico City. Even at that time, Frida was pushing the limits as one of only 30 female students at the institution. Sadly, it was then that one of the first of her life's tragedies would take place when on her way home from school with boyfriend/lover Alejandro Gomez Arias that a streetcar collided with the bus they were riding and Frida was seriously injured with a broken spinal column, broken pelvic bone, crushed foot and ankle, broken ribs, broken collarbone, severely broken leg and most seriously, she was impaled by a metal handrail that punctured her uterus. The pelvic and internal injuries would make it impossible for Frida to have children and cause several miscarriages.

It was during the convalescence time that Frida's father brought her an easel and paints and mounted a mirror over her bed so that she could keep occupied. This simple act ignited a fire in Frida. She was able to express herself, to let out the pain and frustration and fear that were such a big part of her life. One of the first paintings she completed during this time was a self portrait painted for Alejandro who had left her after the accident. He later returned the portrait to her and it was one of the portraits that she completed took to a famous artist who was working on a mural for the government. It was then that the second most important event of her life took place; she met Diego Rivera, the man that would be her love, her best friend and her muse. He would also be the person who caused her the most pain and gave her the most joy. She was still very young and took him her paintings to critique. Diego gave her his honest evaluation and when she met him years later through mutual friend and communist party supporter Tina Modotti, a love affair began.

Diego was almost twice her age and twice her size and been married three times. Her mother, not happy with the match, nicknamed the couple the Elephant and the Dove to describe their physical differences. Diego was already a celebrated artist and Frida would be become his biggest fan and biggest critic. The marriage was not a happy one. There were infidelities on the part of both. Diego was a diagnosed womanizer and this caused much pain to Frida. Diego even admitted to a brief affair with Frida's beloved sister, Cristine. Eventually, she had extramarital affairs with members of both sexes. Frida was an admitted bisexual who had affairs with many prominent women including Josephine Baker.

Throughout the marriage years, Frida's medical problems continued with excruciating pain that she masked with heavy drinking and smoking. Frida's art reflected the pain, both mental and physical, that she felt. Her own favorite subject, Frida was quoted as saying, "I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best." Frida painted more than 140 self-portraits that were studies in painful events in her life, her marriage and her medical condition. Her self-portarits covered such events as her miscarriages, her spinal pain, her devotion to Diego and her feelings for past lovers.

Diego and Frida were great supporters of the Communist party and Diego used his popularity to win permission for Russian

Leon Trosky and his wife to immigrate to Mexico where the couple lived with Diego and Frida for two years. Frida was attracted to Trosky's passion