Frida Kahlo Exhibit

1. Museo Dolores Olmedo
Critic Veronica Rocha

2. Frida Kahlo Exhibit
Frida Kahlo was married to the muralist Diego Rivera who inspired her
works of art. Kahlo was of Hungarian, Native-American, and Mexican
decent. Frida Kahlo is an artist who suffered a tremendous amount of
heartache. Much of her artwork is a reflection of what she went through.
Kahlo's art focused on telling the story of her life. Khalo's dream was to
study medicine but her tragic accident left her to a slow recovery in 1925.
During this recovery she took up learning to paint later making her one of
the most famous artist of the 20th century.
Background

3. This was Frida's first self-portrait painting. You can
see how there is a very simple use of lines and
shapes. The colors are a bit dark in the painting.
This style shows to be a bit European. It may have
been that Khalo wanted to capture her European
decent on her father's side.In the background it
shows a pattern to look like a set of waves. What
makes this distinct is the color black. Black is
usually considered as death, sadness, or some type
of negativity. Due to Kahlo's circumstances this
could have led her to use those colors.
Self-portrait in aVelvet Dress
(1926)

4. The Bus
(1929)
This painting is slightly different as it's
not a painting of herself but a painting
of the time she sat in the bus moments
before the accident. In this painting the
first thing that stands out is the woman
located in the middle nurturing her
baby. While next to the lady is a little
boy looking out the window. This
accident not only caused her a great
deal of physical pain but also took
away the chance of her becoming a
mother. The colors used are neutral
and soft. What also makes the mother
stand out is how she is barefooted.
Showing the nature of the mother. The
mother would give everything for her
child to have their needs met. Khalo
long hoped for a child.

5. Portrait of Luther Burbank
(1930's)
In this picture a man is depicted as a tree with his roots
feeding off a dead corpse. Behind this man are trees filled
with fruits. The background is light blue and cloudy. What I
notice is that the man is wearing a black suit. He is holding
the vines of leaves rooted in the ground. This could
symbolicly mean that this man was living off people. When
doing a bit of investigation later I found out that this man
was a botanist. It could mean that Frida may have used him
to either treat herself herbaly given that she longed needed a
cure to become pregnant.

6. In this sketch Kahlo shows her stages through
her miscarriage. The blood is running down
her leg to the ground. Her facial expression is
full of sorrow. Tears run down her cheeks. The
background shows stars from my
understanding with a moon. This could have
been the time frame her miscarriage happened.
Half of her body is dark. The dark part is
where her blood is running down her leg while
her what side has her child connected to her
leg running up her uterus. This could be a
similar representation of the ying and the yang.
Good and bad.
Frida and the
Miscarriage (1932)

7. Henry Ford
Hospital (1932)
In this painting Frida shows her
having hemorage on a hospital bed.
Similar to the "Two Fridas", another
painting she shows red lines
connected from her pregnant belly to
6 different pictures. Focusing the
middle she has painted a newborn.
The snail may represent the slow
recovery to her accident. A medical
model may show the areas located to
her bodily damage. The pelvis is a
way to show the problem that caused
her miscarriage.

8. Family Portrait (1935)
Khalo's family ethics were
important to Khalo. This is an
unfinished painting. This painting
illustrates Frida Khalo's family.
Khalo's sister is depicted in the
painting dispite her sister's
betrayal affair with Kahlo's
husband Rivera.
In this painting I notice a bluish
cloudy sky through the top. There
are people illustrated through the
top. This can be a significance of
those who have passed and are in
heaven. As to where the others
illustrated towards the bottom are
in a neutral background. Giving
the impression of her living family
members during this time.

9. The Two Fridas(1939)
In this piece you see the heartache of
Frida's marriage. The Frida in the
white dress has a broken heart. The
white dress is a representation of a
wedding dress. Frida in the white
dress is holding a pair of scissors in
her right-hand side. As for the Frida
in the blue and green dress this can
be a representation of Frida herself
prior to her marriage. This Frida
shows her holding a picture of her
husband in her left-hand. Frida
holding her husband in her left hand
shows that her husband was close to
her heart. If you notice the lines are
painted running from her heart down
to her arm with the picture. The
Frida in white shows her holding a
pair of bloody scissorsThe
background of this painting shows a
gray and dark sky. The facial
appearance shows sadness.

10. In this self-portrait you see a rod painted where
her spinal cord would normally be located.
This could be an illustration of back surgery
she may have gone through. Frida was known
to have gone through over 20 surgeries. The
background shows a blue sky and land is dry
and cracked. Giving the impression of an
unstability where she stands. In the portrait she
is naked with nails pinned throughout her face
and body. This could be a representation of the
pain she suffered through her surgery.
The Broken Column
(1944)

11. Weeping
Coconuts (1951)
In this painting there are two
coconuts. The coconuts look like two
heads. The fruits around the coconuts
have a shape as if it was a boat or
car. It looks like a float to show or
symbolize Mexico. The tears maybe
the love and sadness showed for her
country.

12. My Evaluation
Looking over all Khalo's paintings exhibited I noticed that her paintings to begin
with were amatuer. Her self-portraits first looked cartoonish as time passed the self-
portraits became more realistic. I personally believe that overall Khalo's paintings
were original and successful. I believe that the fact that she told her emotions and
story through her paintings gave her audience a way to relate to her artwork. The
art may have drawn more woman audience than any other type of audience. The
way she used bold colors in her art also distinguished her art. I noticed that there
was a lot of symbolism in her art which made it a lot easier to relate and
understand. I'm actually very surprised how most of these pieces were completed.
The strength she showed in order to complete her paintings is amazing.
Persiverence says it all!

13. Thank You!