Frida KahloBy: Jordan Hardwick

Born July 6th, 1907 in Coyoacan, Mexico Died July 13th, 1954

The Life of Frida Developed Polio as a child, which cause one of

her legs to remain much thinner than the other. On September 17th, 1925, Frida was in a

serious accident when the bus she was riding collided with a trolley car.

She suffered severe injuries, including: a broken spinal column, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, eleven fractures in her right leg, a crushed and dislocated right foot, and a dislocated shoulder.

An iron handrail impaled her through her hips, which pierced her uterus and caused her to not be able to have kids.

She had over 35 operations in her lifetime, mainly on her back, right leg and foot. She was impregnated 3 times, but all 3 pregnancies had to be terminated due to medical complications.

During the time she spent recuperating, Frida began to paint self portraits.

Kahlo once said, "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best."

Many of her works convey the pain and struggles she went through during her marriage, miscarriages, and her operations.

Henry Ford Hospital 1932Painted on tin with paint.

A Troubled Marriage

Frida admired fellow artist Diego Rivera, whom she often asked for advice about her art.

They married in 1929. They divorced 10 years later, but remarried in December 1940.

Their marriage was very troubled, due to Rivera's affairs (one with Frida's younger sister) and Frida's affairs with both men and women.

Without Hope 1945Oil on canvas

The Two Fridas 1939Oil on canvas

The Death of a Troubled Artist

• Frida died awhile after she turned 47.

• Days before her death, she wrote in her personal diary- “I hope the exit is joyful-and I hope never to return” -Frida Kahlo

• The official cause of death was said to be pulmonary embolism, which is a main blockage of an artery or lung.

• During the last few years of her life, Frida was very frail, due to gangrene from having a leg amputated and a bout of Bronchopneumonia

Frida Time!

• Frida had an affair with the famous artist Georgia O'Keeffe.

• She was active communist, along with her husband.

• She was born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo Calderon

• Her marriage was often called a union between an elephant and a dove because of how large Diego Rivera was and how small Frida was.

The Wounded Deer, 1946Oil on masonite

Portrait of Cristina, My Sister, 1928Oil on wood