Frida Kahlo - the Mexican Iconic woman painter of the 20th Century.

One of the most iconic women painters of the 20th century is Frida Kahlo. Her impact on the world, both artistically and culturally, has been immense and continues to resonate today. Kahlo was one of those women icons who asserted her vision and identity in a male-dominated art world. She was born in Coyoacán, Mexico, in 1907. 

At six years of age, she contracted polio, then at 18, a devastating bus accident left her with numerous injuries, that included a broken spinal cord, fractured pelvis and multiple broken ribs. During her excruciating recovery, she immersed herself into art and began to paint. She would often paint with a special easel her mother had made her while lying in bed.

Kahlo's paintings are far from conventional, are deeply introspective and relay her physical and psychological pain, highlighting her Mexican identity, her turbulent relationship with artist Diego Rivera, and delves into her experiences with love, loss, and femininity. Her paintings are a blend of realism and fantasy, Mexican folk art, pre-Columbian mythology, and Catholic iconography spoken through a distinct visual language which are deeply moving like the painting of The Sun and Life and Still Life with Parrot and Fruit.

At a glance, the paintings remind me a woman turning towards the Sun to light up her life. Whereas the Still life with parrot and fruit was a thirst wanted quenched through words. These are my interpretations and humble opinion. She is an iconic symbol that has brought forth the powerful voice of women to the fore. 

I wondered at her pain and how she rose amid it all. How her self-portraits were honest and included her flaws. Through it all, I could see the beauty in her. She was a strong woman, who spoke up for feminine issues and has shaped Mexican art for its richness and complexity, and popularized it internationally.

Frida Kahlo's official cause of death listed on her death certificate was pulmonary embolism.

Her increasingly deteriorating health in her final years, her chronic pain, her struggles with depression, and a diary entry she made just days before her death read: 

"I hope the exit is joyful — and I hope never to return — Frida."

When Frida Kahlo incorporated Catholic iconography into her work, she drew upon a familiar and deeply resonant set of symbols within her Mexican culture, which had a strong Catholic heritage.

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