Frida Kahlo is a Mexican artist that was born in 1909 in Coyoacán, Mexico and is considered to be one of the greatest Mexican artists of all time. She was married to Diego Rivera, another renowned Mexican artist.
Frida Kahlo was the daughter of a German photographer who immigrated to Mexico where he met Frida’s mother Matilde. Frida did not have an easy childhood; at the age of 6, she was diagnosed with polio causing her to be bedridden for more than nine months. When she recovered, she still had some problems with walking as her legs had been damaged from the illness.
In her 20s she was one of the only female students in the National Preparatory school and she became quite known for her young spirit and her love of colourful and traditional clothes. During that time, she joined the Communist Party in Mexico and became politically active.
In 1925, she was a victim of a bus crash and it was during her recovery process that she started painting. One year after, she painted her first self-portrait.
Frida’s artwork has been recognised worldwide as it represents an open window to her feelings and displays how suffering can be changed into art. Her work reflects on her life, pain, her complicated marriage with Diego Rivera and specifically on the image of women.
Kahlo died at the age of 47 in her house in Coyoacán, Mexico due to a pulmonary embolism but there are still many questions about the reason for her death.