"Frida Kahlo"

Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo  y Calderon, as her name appears in her birth certificate, was born July 6, 1907. This was in a small town in the outskirts of Mexico City. Her father, Guillermo Kahlo, was from Pforzheim, Germany and her mother, Matilde Calderon y Gonzalez, was of Spanish decendence. The Mexican Revolution began in 1910, when Frida was 3; later she claimed she was born in 1910 so she could be associated with the revolution. At that time, Kahlo lived in an extremely poor town and in her writings she explained that her mother would feed the revolutionaries from time to time. In 1910, Kahlo contracted polio at the age of 6, which left her right leg thinner than the left. In 1922, when Kahlo was 15, she joined a gang in her school and witnessed violent armed struggles in the of Mexico City as the revolution continued. On September 17, 1925, Frida was 18, she was involved in and accident, where a train hit the bus she was riding. After the accident she turned her attention away from the study of medicine and began her full time painting career. Kahlo created at least 140 paintings, along with dozens and studies. Of  her paintings, 55 are self-portraits which often incorporate symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds. She explained that she painted herself, because she was often alone and she was the subject she knew best. Drawing on her personal experiences including: her marriage, her miscarriages and her numerous operations. Frida's work was deeply influences by indigenous Mexican Culture, which is apparent in her use of bright colors and dramatic symbolism. A few days before Frida Kahlo died. on July 13, 1954 she wrote in her diary "i hope the exit is joyful-and i hope to never return"

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