hey guys it's Karin, welcome to little art talks and happy Valentine's Day everyone to celebrate
Valentine's Day throughout this month I'm going to be sharing us some of the greatest partnerships
of art history of course I'll be sharing it the sweet and passionate love stories the drama the
affairs but also what it was like for them to be artists partners and even collaborators in some
cases what kind of art did they make and how did their partners influence their work so if you're
interested in these stories be sure to subscribe to little art talks for new videos every Monday
the marriage of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo is perhaps one of the most well known unions
of artists their relationship was also known for its passion and volatility filled with love but
also affairs a divorce and a remarriage both were visionary artists celebrated during their
lifetime Rivera was considered the greatest living artist in Mexico though he did believe that his
wife held the title how cute is that Rivera was already a prominent Mexican painter when
the two met he was known for his large frescoes with their strong social and political messages
which spread the Mexican merriment in Mexican art he felt strongly that his work served the
people by educating viewers about their history and revolution and his smaller works were often
images of the earth farmers and laborers in total contrast to Rivera's outward themes kollos works
were intensely personal she was born to a Mexican Indian mother and a German father when she was six
she contracted polio which shortened her right leg at 18 she was in a major bus accident that
forced her to stay in bed encased in a plaster cast it was during this time that she begun to
paint out of boredom she miraculously recovered but suffered frequent relapses of pain throughout
her life and had to be hospitalized for extended periods of time this influenced her work in a
major way she often painted herself in physical pain her emotional longing and her action to the
natural world kala was still an art student when she met Rivera and she wanted to ask the famous
Moreau list for some advice on her career he was impressed with her work stating that they
showed an unusual energy of expression precise delineation of character and choose severity they
had a fundamental plastic honesty and artistic personality of their own it was obvious to me
that this girl was an authentic artist although Rivera was married at the time at the two had
an affair and got married in 1929 Carlos parents were thrilled with the marriage this was Rivera's
third marriage and he was a known womanizer it was also a lot older he was 42 and she was 22
they called the couple the elephant and the Dove because Diego was much larger than Frida who is a
small and slender the tua travelled to wherever Rivera received commissions first ekran ibaka
where colors were increasingly drew from Mexican folk art she began to wear traditional indigenous
Mexican peasant clothing to emphasize her mestiza ancestry the long skirts hit her uneven legs and
Rivera preferred her in Mexican dress they don't went to San Francisco for six months
then spent a year in Detroit and then New York where Rivera worked on his controversial merrill
in the Rockefeller Center during these days the couple met many influential artists collectors
and clients Carlo continued to develop her folk art style and painted portraits of several new
acquaintances in San Francisco she painted Frida and Diego Rivera a double portrait based on
their wedding photograph here she is the genius's adoring wife while Kahlo enjoyed San Francisco and
York she struggled in Detroit and became homesick due to her health problems she was unable to have
children she struggled with a pregnancy after a failed abortion which later miscarried and caused
a series hemorrhage she was hospitalized for two weeks and three months later her mother passed
away she produced a number of paintings during this difficult time including Henry Ford Hospital
my birth and self-portrait on the border of Mexico and United States after New York the two returned
to Mexico but it was during this time when their marriage became even more strained her health
problems continued and Rivera was unhappy to me back in Mexico which he blamed on his wife while
both had affairs throughout their marriage it was Rivera's affair with Freitas sister that hurt
her the most she even moved out and considered a divorce the two reconciled but continued to have
affairs now from what I can tell there kind of an open relationship like they obviously had a lot of
affairs and the two knew about the fairs they also were known to live in separate quarters throughout
their marriage they tolerated the affairs but they weren't very happy about it it was very tumultuous
and my research was inconclusive from 1937 to 1938 Kahlo was extremely productive in the love
embrace of the universe the earth Diego and me she cradles her husband while a couple is embraced
by the earth and the universe in what the water gave me she alludes to physical suffering due to
miscarriage as well as their stay in New York City with the Empire State Building emerging from the
volcano in 1939 the two divorced due to infidelity and violence right before their separation Frida
painted a double self-portrait on the right she is dressed as a Mexican peasant holding a portrait of
Diego an artery wraps around and is connected to another image of herself but this time dressed in
a fancy European dress she holds forceps to close the bleed this image is often read as
the two sides of herself the one which Diego loves and the one he does not it can also relate to her
split heritage of dramatic and Mexican blood they only lasted a year before they remarried but the
second marriage was just as volatile as their first after their reconciliation she painted
an image of herself with Diego on her forehead perhaps she is saying she cannot get him out
of her mind and that she cannot live without him breed ever marked being the wife of Diego is the
most marvelous thing in the world I let him play matrimony with other women Diego is not anybody's
husband and will never be but he is a great comrade Rivera wrote in his autobiography that
the day that color died was the most tragic moment of his life and perhaps Diego was on to something
when he said that his wife was the greatest living artist in Mexico in the early 1980s
when Rivera's Merrill's began to look outdated Kahlo's work was being rediscovered I hope you
guys enjoyed this video on the work of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera if you enjoyed it please give it
a thumbs up and subscribe to little art talks for more videos on love and art throughout the
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