Important Cultural Points “Hispanic” and “Latino” are both correct terms for the Spanish speaking population covering 20 different countries of the Caribbean, Central and South America. To say that somebody is “Spanish” literally refers to a person from the country of Spain. A lot of people unintentionally offend Spanish speaking people by calling them Mexicans or Spaniards which, really, is the same as calling an American a British person or any other nationality that speaks English. The point is, people want to be correctly referred to as who they are and where they are from. The same thing happens with Asian people—a Chinese person does not want to be called “Oriental” or “Japanese” because, well, they aren’t. It is more confusing with Spanish speakers because this language is spoken in so many countries and is called also the name of a race. Another example is that of the Brazilian. In Brazil, the people speak Portuguese. Portuguese is also spoken in Portugal. The people of Portugal are Portuguese. The people of Brazil are Brazilian even though both speak Portuguese. Many people assume Spanish is spoken in Brazil because it is near a lot of Spanish-speaking countries. A person is not identified merely by the language they speak because English is spoken in England, the US, Australia, and Ireland to name a few, but an American is not an Australian…Spanish is spoken in Peru and Costa Rica, but a Peruvian is not a Tican (and neither of these is a Mexican or Spaniard). A lot of people from the US who are not culturally aware of other people or places believe that Spanish and Mexican people are more or less the same. This is quite untrue. Spain is in Europe and the Spanish people are a very different culture than the Mexican culture. They do speak the same language (although the dialect varies) but their food is different as well as their lifestyle and many of their customs. Spanish food is very Mediterranean; rice, seafood, olive oil, almonds, and saffron are typical ingredients. Mexican food we are all very familiar with—corn tortillas, beans, rice, heavily cooked meats, cilantro and peppers are some typical ingredients. The term “Hispanic” is not a race, rather an ethnic origin. It does not always mean the person speaks Spanish either, but does identify him or her as being from Spanish ancestry. Hispanics (Latinos) are those who descend from Spaniards who explored the Caribbean and Central and South America where they married Indians native to the areas. This created the Hispanic/Latino culture which is diverse and rich in tradition. So it is pretty safe to identify Spanish speakers in the United States as Hispanic or Latino as a general term. The term Chicano is also used in the US, and refers to a person born in the United States from Latino parents. By simply paying attention and using these terms, one can avoid seeming to have no cultural awareness. The marriage of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo is one of the most famous alliances.

1. Important Cultural Points
“Hispanic” and “Latino” are both correct terms for the Spanish
speaking population covering 20 different countries of the
Caribbean, Central and South America. To say that somebody is
“Spanish” literally refers to a person from the country of Spain.
A lot of people unintentionally offend Spanish speaking people
by calling them Mexicans or Spaniards which, really, is the
same as calling an American a British person or any other
nationality that speaks English. The point is, people want to be
correctly referred to as who they are and where they are from.
The same thing happens with Asian people—a Chinese person
does not want to be called “Oriental” or “Japanese” because,
well, they aren’t. It is more confusing with Spanish speakers
because this language is spoken in so many countries and is
called also the name of a race. Another example is that of the
Brazilian. In Brazil, the people speak Portuguese. Portuguese is
also spoken in Portugal. The people of Portugal are Portuguese.
The people of Brazil are Brazilian even though both speak
Portuguese. Many people assume Spanish is spoken in Brazil
because it is near a lot of Spanish-speaking countries.
A person is not identified merely by the language they speak
because English is spoken in England, the US, Australia, and
Ireland to name a few, but an American is not an
Australian…Spanish is spoken in Peru and Costa Rica, but a
Peruvian is not a Tican (and neither of these is a Mexican or
Spaniard). A lot of people from the US who are not culturally
aware of other people or places believe that Spanish and
Mexican people are more or less the same. This is quite untrue.
Spain is in Europe and the Spanish people are a very different
culture than the Mexican culture. They do speak the same
language (although the dialect varies) but their food is different
as well as their lifestyle and many of their customs. Spanish

2. food is very Mediterranean; rice, seafood, olive oil, almonds,
and saffron are typical ingredients. Mexican food we are all
very familiar with—corn tortillas, beans, rice, heavily cooked
meats, cilantro and peppers are some typical ingredients.
The term “Hispanic” is not a race, rather an ethnic origin. It
does not always mean the person speaks Spanish either, but
does identify him or her as being from Spanish ancestry.
Hispanics (Latinos) are those who descend from Spaniards who
explored the Caribbean and Central and South America where
they married Indians native to the areas. This created the
Hispanic/Latino culture which is diverse and rich in tradition.
So it is pretty safe to identify Spanish speakers in the United
States as Hispanic or Latino as a general term. The term
Chicano is also used in the US, and refers to a person born in
the United States from Latino parents. By simply paying
attention and using these terms, one can avoid seeming to have
no cultural awareness.
The marriage of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo is one of the
most famous alliances between artists. It is a well-known fact
that they had a passionate and stormy relationship, filled with
great love and also betrayals. They both had incredible talents
and vision, but Diego's work would be more public and
monumental, whereas Frida's was more personal and intimate in
scale.
Frida Kahlo
(1907-1954)
The Broken Column 1944
Image Source: Heyden Herrera, Biography of Frida Kahlo, 1983

3. Tree of Hope 1946
Image Source: Heyden Herrera, Biography of Frida Kahlo, 1983
While Rivera's art looked outward, to social themes - Kahlo's
looked inward, to intensely personal expressions. This was
largely due to physical ailments which caused her great pain
throughout her life. Frida was the daughter of a Mexican-Indian
mother and a German father. At age 6, she was stricken with
polio, which caused her right leg to shrivel (something she later
hid beneath her long Mexican dresses). When she was 18, she
was involved in a serious bus accident which left her with a
broken spinal column, collarbone, ribs, pelvis, and 11 fractures
in her right leg. In addition her right foot was dislocated and
crushed, and her shoulder was out of joint. For a month at a
time, Frida was forced to stay flat on her back, encased in a
plaster cast. She began painting shortly after the accident
because she was bored in bed.
The Little Deer 1946
Image Source: Heyden Herrera, Biography of Frida Kahlo, 1983
Roots 1943
Image Source: Heyden Herrera, Biography of Frida Kahlo, 1983
Frida's recovery was miraculous, and she regained her ability to
walk. However, she had frequent relapses of pain all throughout
her life, which caused her to be hospitalized for long periods of
time. Maintaining her sense of humor, she joked that she held
the record for the most operations (about 30 in her lifetime).
She also turned to alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes to ease the pain
of her physical suffering. Her images focus on representations
of herself, pictures of her physical pain, emotional longing, and
her felt connection to the natural world.
Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird 1940

4. Image Source: Heyden Herrera, Biography of Frida Kahlo, 1983
Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser and Daughters 1940
Image Source: Heyden Herrera, Biography of Frida Kahlo, 1983
Despite tremendous physical ailments, Frida was a very
beautiful woman. She had particularly thick, hairy eyebrows,
which she made no attempt to disguise. In fact, she emphasized
them so much in her paintings that they have become her
trademark. It was Rivera who encouraged Kahlo to wear the
traditional embroidered dresses and hair ribbons of the
Tehuanas(a matriarchal Indian tribe). The "hand" earring that
she wears in a couple of her portraits was given to her by Pablo
Picasso, whom she met after marrying Diego Rivera. Their
marriage has been called the union between an elephant and a
dove, because Diego was huge and Frida was small and slender.
The Love Embrace of the Universe 1949
Image Source: Heyden Herrera, Biography of Frida Kahlo, 1983
What the Water Gave Me 1938
Image Source: Heyden Herrera, Biography of Frida Kahlo, 1983
Diego and Frida's marriage was nothing less than stormy. They
loved each other very much, but Diego was a well-known
womanizer, and had several affairs throughout the course of
their marriage (including one with Frida's sister). After much
emotional torment, Frida also had several affairs (with both men
and women). Frida poured out her emotions in her paintings. In
The Love Embrace of the Universe (The Earth, Diego, and Me),
she cradles her husband like a baby while the couple is
embraced by an image of the earth and the universe. In What the
Water Gave Me, she also makes reference to a miscarriage, her
move to New York city (the Empire State building emerging

5. from the volcano), her physical suffering and her complex
emotions of love and rage.
Diego on My Mind 1943
(Frida as Tehuana)
The Two Fridas 1939
Image Source: Rita Gilbert'sLiving with Art
In 1940, Frida and Diego divorced, but the separation only
lasted one year. Just before their separation, Frida painted a
double self-portrait. In the image on the right, she is dressed as
a Mexican peasant, holding a miniature portrait of Diego. An
artery wraps around her and is connected to an image of herself
in a fancy European dress, holding forceps to prevent further
bleeding. It is supposed that this is the two sides of herself: the
one which Diego loves and the other which he does not. It also
relates to her split heritage of Germanic and Mexican blood.
After the couple's reconciliation, Frida painted an image of
herself with Diego on her forehead. She seems to say that she
cannot live without him and cannot get him off of her mind.
Despite Diego's affairs with other women, he helped in many
ways. He believed in her and felt that she was the greatest
Mexican woman artist. He introduced her to the art community
of Mexico and New York. I suppose you could also say that
their conflicts continued her desire to express herself as a
needed emotional release.
When Andre Breton (the leader of Surrealism) tried to convince
Frida to join the group, she would have nothing to do with it.
"They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't,'' she said. "I
never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.''
During her own lifetime Frida owed much of her renown as a
painter to the fact that she was married to Diego Rivera. After

6. years in his shadow, she is now even more famous than her
husband. By the early 1980s his social realist murals began to
look outdated, and Kahlo was being rediscovered. Her portrayal
of her own physical and emotional pain spoke to a new
generation of feminists and to those more concerned with
personal feeling than grand ideologies.
It is possible that Diego himself knew that some day Frida
would be even more immortal than himself. In 1953, one year
before Kahlo's death, while he was well enshrined as Mexico's
greatest living painter, he gave an interview in which he stated,
"Frida Kahlo is the greatest Mexican painter. Her work is
destined to be multiplied by reproductions and will speak,
thanks to books, to the whole world. It is one of the most
formidable artistic documents and most intense testimonies on
human truth of our time.''