In some of the trips I’ve made to different cities in other countries, I have noticed that one of the most recognized Mexican characters in the world, is Frida Kahlo, painter and Mexican poet who printed a particular style in her work, showing the most tragic passages of her life.
I’m sure that if you’re not in Mexico, you’ve probably heard her name, or you’ve found her picture in some place, it is why in this post I will talk a little about who was this important painter and Mexican poet.
Frida was born in Mexico City in the year 1907. Since she was a child, she had to deal with health problems such as polio, a disease that kept her lying in bed for much of her childhood. While she was growing, began to show her taste for art, but it was not until her early youth, after finishing high school and face a strong car accident, which decided to enter fully into the world of painting. During this time she had contact with politics and left groups, thereby relate to important personalities in this field, as Diego Rivera one of the most renowned Mexican muralists and whom she married in 1929. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were known for their peculiar lifestyle, always surrounded by social gatherings with artists, intellectuals and politicians, as well as having an unconventional and non-exclusive marital relationship, both had different partners, even Frida was related sentimentally with other women.
Throughout her life, Frida suffered consequences of the accident she had when she was young, as a result of these complications died in 1954.
The importance of Frida lies in her passionate interest in social and political issues, as well as becoming a symbol of freedom and feminism in Mexico, undoubtedly a revolutionary woman for her time.
Her works were mostly self-portraits, began to gain fame and be exposed worldwide, mainly in New York and Paris, because of the harshness of their subjects and their particular pictorial form.
Some of the most important people with whom she was associated throughout history includes Jose Vasconcelos (Minister of Education in Mexico), Leon Trotsky (Political and Russian revolutionary), Pablo Picasso (Spanish painter and sculptor), André Breton (French writer) among many artists, photographers, writers, painters and intellectuals well recognized at the time.
This character has been the subject of countless films, books, songs, poems and even her look, always wearing traditional clothing, has caused fashion trend int he world, becoming an icon of the Mexican popular culture.
You can currently visit the museum La Casa Azul of Mexico City (London 247, Del Carmen, Coyoacan, in Mexico City) or the Studio House of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo (Calle Diego Rivera S / N, Alvaro Obregon, San Angelin, Mexico City) in both places you can find much of the legacy of these peculiar Mexican artists.
