SPEAKER: Throughout her life, Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo,
painted 150 works.
And most of them were self-portraits
drawn from her own suffering.
Today we delve into the life and work of this painter
with 10 facts about Frida Kahlo.
So if you want to know the story behind these iconic paintings,
subscribe.
Childhood.
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo was born on July 6,
1907 and Coyoacán, Mexico.
When Frida was six years old, she suffered from poleomilitis.
This disease caused her right leg
to be thinner and shorter than her left.
And although she survived, she was unable to have children.
Accident.
In 1925, Frida was just 18 years old when
a bus she was traveling on was hit by a tram.
The accident left her with several broken bones
and severe spinal injuries.
She would never fully recover.
Recovery.
After the accident, Frida spent the next three months
bedridden in a plaster corset.
Her mother gave her some paint and an easel
and she began experimenting with self-portraits.
Frida said, I paint myself because I'm usually alone
and I'm the object I know best.
The Mexican Revolution.
Frida's childhood coincided with the Mexican Revolution.
And she considered herself a daughter of the revolution.
Her paintings increasingly reflected revolutionary ideals
in combination with the popular Mexican aesthetics of the time.
Communist Party and Diego Rivera.
In 1927, Frida joined the Mexican Communist Party
and established a strong circle of friends.
That's how she met painter, Diego Rivera.
And just two years later, they were married.
It was the beginning of a passionate, yet stormy,
relationship.
Frida and her miscarriages.
From 1930 to 1933, Frida and Diego
lived throughout the United States,
from New York and Detroit to Los Angeles.
On July 4, 1932, Frida suffered her first miscarriage
while living in Detroit, and that was followed by two more.
This was due to her body being unable to support
a pregnancy as a result of the polio she suffered as a child.
Her realization that it would be impossible
for her to have children profoundly affected her art.
Surrealism.
Frida combined her characteristic popular imagery
with the avant-garde style of her time,
and the world loved it.
In 1939, she exhibited her paintings at the Louvre.
Although André Breton, one of the founders of the surrealist
movement, considered Frida to be a surrealist,
she was quick to disagree.
She said that she didn't paint her dreams
and that she painted her own life.
House of San Angel and Trotsky.
Frida and Diego separated briefly
before returning to Mexico City, where
they moved into a new house in the wealthy neighborhood of San
Angel.
There they hosted numerous artists
and political activists, such as the exiled Soviet communist
revolutionary, Leon Trotsky.
Last years of life.
Throughout the final years of her life,
Frida endured persistent and severe pain.
She underwent numerous surgeries and battled
post-operative infections, including
one that took her right leg.
Even so, she continued to paint.
And most of her still lifes are from this period
because as she said, feet, what do I need you
for when I have wings to fly?
Death.
On July 13, 1954, Frida Kahlo's brush stopped painting.
Today, her ashes rest in her childhood home, a casa azul,
the blue house, in her home country of Mexico.
Her work, drawn from a lifetime of suffering
and self-improvement, has traveled worldwide
and left an indelible mark on popular culture.
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