Diary of Frida Kahlo. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. March 1, ISBN Chronicle Books November 1, Introduction by Carlos Fuentes. Essay by Sarah M. London: Bloomsburry, ISBN X. Back to Top Back to Top. X Newsletter Signup. Please enter a valid email address. Thank you for subscribing! When Frida was 18, she was travelling with her boyfriend on a wooden bus when it collided with a streetcar.
Frida was nearly killed in the crash when an iron handrail went into her hip and came out the other side. On top of this, she also broke her spinal column, collarbone, ribs, pelvis, right leg in 11 places, and dislocated her shoulder. Although she did eventually recover, she had to have 35 operations over her life to help with her spinal injuries, and she lived with chronic pain. She would sit in her bed with an easle, mostly painting self-portraits by looking at herself in a mirror across the room.
During her life, Frida created paintings including 55 self-portraits. Her raw and emotional self-portraits often showed both her physical and psychological wounds from her life and accident with themes of pain, disability, injury and fragility. One of her most famous paintings, The Broken Column , shows her shattered spine looking like an earthquake fissure. She even showed one of the several miscarriages she experienced — likely due to the accident which damaged her uterus and had made pregnancy impossible.
In when Frida was 20, she had admired the work of the famous Mexican painter Diego Rivera for many years. When she did eventually get to meet him, despite a year age difference, the pair quickly fell for each other, leading Diego to leave his second wife and marry Frida in Frida had affairs with both men and women.
They divorced in but remarried a year later. Although their second marriage was as troubled as the first, Frida remained married to Diego till her death. There, she showed a strong interest in natural sciences and wanted to become doctor. On 17 September , on her way home from school, her bus hit a tramway. This accident sealed her fate. Although she survived, she was nevertheless seriously injured. Her pelvic cavity was pierced by a metal bar, which would cause systematic miscarriages.
She also suffers 11 fractures to her right leg. Her right foot is completely dislocated, while her shoulder is dislocated. Her spine and femoral neck are broken. Suffering excruciatingly, she remains in bed for several months.
In total, until the end of her life, she undergoes 32 surgeries and will wear 28 corsets. Back home, she is forced to stay in bed. Indeed, her medical studies being compromised, her family encouraged her to paint.
They had her make a special easel and a canopy bed with a mirror as a ceiling. Art became the outlet for all her ills and the catalyst for her healing. She begins an important series of self-portraits.
They will not cease to be her favorite subject. She was only 21 years old at the time and was just recovering from her accident. Nevertheless, her commitment to the defense of social justice and the promotion of Mexican culture had emerged as a teenager.
Indeed, the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria praised the indigenismo. Many of them became major figures of the Mexican intellectual elite. Thus, within the Communist Party, in addition to class struggle, she was particularly committed to the emancipation and equality of women.
She thus became a leading figure among feminist artists. Unsubmissive, protestant, and modern, she assumed her bisexuality at a time when few women dared to do so. The year was also marked by her decisive meeting with the muralist Diego Rivera. He is 20 years older and also a member of the Communist Party.
Putting his art at the service of the people by creating large frescoes commissioned by the government, he was already fully recognized. Their common passions for painting and politics and their respective admiration make them a fusional couple of artists. Marrying in , their relationship was both passionate and destructive.
One was caused by a bus, the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst. Indeed, Diego cheated on her several times… and she did the same in return. Leaving the marital home for several months, their love remains unfailing.
Frida also undermines her marriage by having an affair with the communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Indeed, in , having been granted political asylum in Mexico, the Russian politician had been accommodated in their home. Divorced in , they finally remarried in , linked until their death. The house in which they lived during their first marriage is symptomatic of their relationship.
Consisting of two separate buildings, blue for Frida, white and pink for Diego, they are connected by a bridge. It is a metaphor for their couple: independent but inescapably united. Fascinated, he invited her to Paris in to take part in a major exhibition in Mexico.
However, both the city and the exhibition displeased her. It was far too caricatured and picturesque of her nation.
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