MILAN – Today the art world celebrates the birth anniversary of one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, Frida Kahlo. The best known and most acclaimed Mexican painter of all time, with an unfortunate and troubled life, she knew how to be realistic and profound, surrealist and committed at the same time. THE BEGINNINGS –Frida Kahlo, born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderon was born in Coyoacan, a delegation from Mexico City, on 6 July 1907 to Matilde Calderon y Gonzalez and Guillermo Kahlo, a successful photographer precise and meticulous in carefully executing lights and shadows. From her father perhaps she takes that precision in describing in detail every detail of her using even tiny sable brushes. At the birth of her Frida of her and her suffering from spina bifida, which her parents and the people around her mistake for polio, as her younger sister is also affected; she since adolescence she has shown artistic talent and an independent and passionate spirit, reluctant towards any social convention. From this context the theme of the self-portrait was born. The first one he paints is for her teenage love, Alejandro.THE ACCIDENT – In his portraits he very often depicts the dramatic aspects of his life, the greatest of which is the serious accident he suffered in 1925 while traveling on a bus and due to which he suffered a fracture of the pelvis. The after-effects of that accident (a pole would have pierced her pelvis and due to her injuries she would have been subjected to thirty-two surgeries over the years) will affect her health throughout her life, but not her moral tension. Frida is passionately dedicated to painting and despite the physical and mental pain of the aftermath of the accident, she continues to be the rebellious, nonconformist and very lively girl that she had been before her. PAIN BLOWS IN ART– Discharged from the hospital she is forced to rest for months in her bed at home with her bust in a plaster cast. This forced circumstance pushes her to read many books, many of them on the communist movement, and to paint. To support this passion, her parents give her a four-poster bed with a mirror on the ceiling, so that she can see herself, and her colors; this is where she begins the series of self-portraits. Her obsessive relationship with her tortured body characterizes one of the fundamental aspects of her art: she creates visions of the female body no longer distorted by a male gaze. MEETING WITH DIEGO RIVERA– Bring your paintings to Diego Rivera, the illustrious mural painter of the time, to get his critique. Rivera was very impressed by Frida’s modern style, so much so that he took her under his wing and included her in the Mexican political and cultural scene. She became an activist of the Mexican Communist Party which she joined in 1928. she I participate in numerous demonstrations and in the meantime she falls in love with Diego Rivera. In 1929 she was her husband (he was at her third marriage), despite knowing of the constant betrayals she would face. As a result of her sentimental sufferings, she too had numerous extramarital affairs, including various homosexual experiences.
. THE LAST YEARS AND SUCCESS– The life and works of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo exert a great artistic charm and a strong emotional impact. For some, this courageous artist will be remembered over time as the greatest painter of the twentieth century. Three important exhibitions are dedicated to her in 1938 in New York, in 1939 in Paris and in 1953 in Mexico City. The year following this last exhibition, on July 13, 1954, Frida Kahlo died in her hometown. Her Her home in Coyoacan, the ‘Blue House’, the destination of thousands and thousands of visitors, has remained intact, just as Diego Rivera wanted and left it to Mexico. It is a wonderful house, simple and beautiful, with colored walls, light and sun, full of life and inner strength as was its owner. FRIDA AND SURREALISM– Starting from 1938 the pictorial activity intensifies: his paintings are no longer limited to the simple description of the incidents of his life, they speak of his inner state and his way of perceiving the relationship with the world and almost all include between the subjects a child, his personification. For a short time in his works the elements of the classical Mexican tradition are combined with those of the surrealist production. In 1938 the surrealist poet and essayist Andre Breton saw her work for the first time: he was so impressed by it that he offered her an exhibition in Paris and proclaimed that Frida was ‘a surrealist created with her own hands’. In 1939, at the invitation of Andre Breton, he went to Paris, where her works were presented in an exhibition dedicated to her. She knew the surrealist label would bring her critical approval, but at the same time she liked the idea of ​​being considered an original artist. In any case, despite the emphasis placed on pain, repressed eroticism and the use of hybrid figures, Frida’s vision was far from the surrealist one: her imagination was not a way to get out of logic and immerse herself in the subconscious. but rather the product of her life that she sought to make accessible through symbolism. Her idea of ​​surrealism about her was playful, she said it ‘and the magical surprise of finding a lion in the closet, where you were sure to find the shirts’. Years later, Frida, she violently denies having taken part in the movement, perhaps because in the 1940s it ceased to be in fashion. but at the same time she liked the idea of ​​being considered an original artist. In any case, despite the emphasis placed on pain, repressed eroticism and the use of hybrid figures, Frida’s vision was far from the surrealist one: her imagination was not a way to get out of logic and immerse herself in the subconscious. but rather the product of her life that she sought to make accessible through symbolism. Her idea of ​​surrealism about her was playful, she said it ‘and the magical surprise of finding a lion in the closet, where you were sure to find the shirts’. Years later, Frida, she violently denies having taken part in the movement, perhaps because in the 1940s it ceased to be in fashion. but at the same time she liked the idea of ​​being considered an original artist. In any case, despite the emphasis placed on pain, repressed eroticism and the use of hybrid figures, Frida’s vision was far from the surrealist one: her imagination was not a way to get out of logic and immerse herself in the subconscious. but rather the product of her life that she sought to make accessible through symbolism. Her idea of ​​surrealism about her was playful, she said it ‘and the magical surprise of finding a lion in the closet, where you were sure to find the shirts’. Years later, Frida, she violently denies having taken part in the movement, perhaps because in the 1940s it ceased to be in fashion. on repressed eroticism and the use of hybrid figures, Frida’s vision was far from the surrealist one: her imagination was not a way to get out of logic and immerse herself in the subconscious, but rather the product of her life that she was trying to to make accessible through a symbolism. Her idea of ​​surrealism about her was playful, she said it ‘and the magical surprise of finding a lion in the closet, where you were sure to find the shirts’. Years later, Frida, she violently denies having taken part in the movement, perhaps because in the 1940s it ceased to be in fashion. on repressed eroticism and the use of hybrid figures, Frida’s vision was far from the surrealist one: her imagination was not a way to get out of logic and immerse herself in the subconscious, but rather the product of her life that she was trying to to make accessible through a symbolism. Her idea of ​​surrealism about her was playful, she said it ‘and the magical surprise of finding a lion in the closet, where you were sure to find the shirts’. Years later, Frida, she violently denies having taken part in the movement, perhaps because in the 1940s it ceased to be in fashion. but rather the product of her life that she sought to make accessible through symbolism. Her idea of ​​surrealism about her was playful, she said it ‘and the magical surprise of finding a lion in the closet, where you were sure to find the shirts’. Years later, Frida, she violently denies having taken part in the movement, perhaps because in the 1940s it ceased to be in fashion. but rather the product of her life that she sought to make accessible through symbolism. Her idea of ​​surrealism about her was playful, she said it ‘and the magical surprise of finding a lion in the closet, where you were sure to find the shirts’. Years later, Frida, she violently denies having taken part in the movement, perhaps because in the 1940s it ceased to be in fashion.
