FRIDA KAHLO

(show picture one of Frida/green background)

Today we are going to learn about a famous female artist from Mexico by the name of Frida Kahlo.Frida Kahlo is best known for her self-portraits filled with passion, and for her use of bold, vibrant colors. She is celebrated around the world for her attention to Mexican culture and for her courage and strength when faced with pain and suffering.

Frida Kahlo was born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón on July 6, 1907, in Mexico City, Mexico. Since her name was so long she signed her paintings with only part of her name and the world knew her as Frida Kahlo.Frida lived a rather short life. She died in 1954 at the age of 47. Frida achieved success even in her brief lifetime that extended far beyond Mexico's borders. She is known as one of the greatest female painters in the world and often referred to as the mother of the selfie, and her image is recognizable everywhere. 

Kahlo grew up in her family’s house named the Blue House or Casa Azul. She spent most of her life in this house as a child and later lived there with her husband. When she died the house was turned into the Frida Kahlo Museum. It is now the most popular museum in Mexico City.

(show pic 2 &3 family portrait & her painting it in bed)

Frida was very close to her parents and her 3 sisters. This is a painting she did of her family tree. In this painting Frida painted herself as a child standing in the Casa Azul (her family’s home). Over her father are her European grandparents dressed in fancier clothes and jewelry. Her other grandparents are from Mexico wearing more simple clothing and are positioned over the dry earth.

Both of her parents influenced her art. Her father would give her books to read and told her to study plants and insects and look at them under a microscope.

(picture 4 self portrait w colorful frame)Although Frida had a loving family her childhood was marked with pain and suffering. Around the age of 6, Frida contracted polio, a disease that damaged her right leg and foot. While she did recover from the illness, she limped when she walked. She wore long skirts and pants to cover it up. Her father encouraged her to play soccer, go swimming, and even wrestle. These were highly unusual moves for a girl at the time. Frida had many friends and tried new things but she was self-conscious of her limp and that she was different.

(picture 5 of Frida in bed w cast)

When she was 18 Frida was in a terrible bus accident. It was a miracle she survived. She had to lie in bed for several months wearing a full body cast and had to have over 35 operations in her lifetime. She was very depressed and bored being stuck in bed for so long so her parents bought her a special art easel she could use while lying down. Her painting really started as a distraction to her illness. She painted her body cast while she was wearing it and always wore jewelry and tied her hair up in fancy ribbons or with flowers while she was in the hospital. She kept a positive attitude but her pain from this accident is seen in many of her paintings.

(picture 6 self portrait in velvet dress)

Frida painted what she knew best…which was herself, her friends and her family.She painted her first self-portrait in the hospital as a gift to her boyfriend at the time. They had a fight before the accident and she wanted him to forgive her.

This painting is known as “Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress” painted in 1926. She never painted herself smiling but she expressed her mood through her eyes, clothes and background. In this picture, she made herself look elegant in a fancy red gown and graceful pose showing her hand and long neck. She often painted her eyebrows as meeting in the middle (they almost look like the wings of a bird) and she sometimes painted herself with a slight mustache (which she didn’t have in real life).

She was quoted saying:I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.”

(picture 7 of Diego and Frida)

A few years after the accident Frida married a famous Mexican painter named Diego Rivera. Diego was known for painting large murals on walls inside buildings. He was already a very popular artist not only in Mexico but all over the world.

(picture 8 peach dress/white drapes)

Sadly their marriage was not peaceful. Frida was madly in love with Diego but often felt betrayed. They were not able to have any children and these things made Frida very sad. They divorced but then re married 2 years later and stayed together in the Casa Azul but in separate rooms and with separate art studios. It was more of a friendship and companionship then a marriage.

She was quoted saying…“There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.”

(show together picture 9 time flies and picture 10 self portrait with lace)

These next 2 pictures were painted at different times in her life and you can see her very different emotions in these pictures.In “Time Flies” painted in 1929 right after her marriage to Diego, Kahlo looks very determined and strong. The modern airplane and clock show that she is optimistic and ready for an adventure. In the other self portrait painted in 1948 she was not happy in her marriage and her health was not good. She is wearing a typical Mexican wedding outfit but she looks very stiff almost like she is trapped and she has tears coming out of her eyes.She is staring off to the side not directly at the viewer.

(show together picture 12 & 13 photo in front of birds)

Frida often painted herself with her many pets. She had birds, monkey, a deer and the more traditional pets like cats and dogs.

(picture 14 Thorn Necklace)

Life experience is a common theme in Frida’s work. She painted her real feelings in a way that had never been seen before. In the 1940’s her work was getting attention from galleries and museums in America and Mexico and the Mexican government gave her money to start an art school. She would tell her students to paint what they felt and what they wanted. She told them to paint their friends, their pets, things in their house and things they liked to do. The children loved painting with Frida so much that when she was too unhealthy to travel to the city to teach them their parents brought them to her house, the Casa Azul, and Frida taught them from her bed. They called themselves the Los Fridas.

(picture 15 bed/skeleton)

(picture 15 Dream of Bed)

In this painting, “Dream of The Bed”, (1940) Frida expressed her feelings about her health. Frida is sound asleep, looking very peaceful. The skeleton is awake and is holding flowers. In Mexico, death is not something to be mourned. They celebrate it with the "Day of the Dead" festival. It may sound weird for some people but in Mexico, death and life are tied together. Frida was very aware of her fading health and she used her artwork to show her feelings.

Frida had only one solo exhibition in Mexico while she was alive. It was in 1953, just a year before she died.  She was very sick at the time and was not allowed out of bed so she had her canopy bed carried to the art gallery and she greeted everyone from her bed!

(picture 16 watermelon)

During her last year of life Frida was bedridden and she experimented with different types of art. Her last painting was not a self portrait but a still life of watermelons. This painting was finished 8 days before she died and the watermelon says Viva la Vida… which translates to Long Live Life. The band Coldplay has a famous album named Viva La Vida and the lead singer said he picked that name because he is a huge fan of Frida Kahlo and admires her strength and courage in all she went through during her life.

(pic 17 Roots)

Today, Frida’s works can be seen in museums around the world and right here in New York City at the Museum of Modern Art. Her work sells for very high prices. In May 2006, Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait, Roots, was sold for $5.6 million dollars. At that time it was the most expensive Latin American work ever purchased at auction, and it also made Frida one of the highest-selling woman artists in the world. Frida’s work is a reminder of how a powerful artist overcame pain and sorrow by using her painting as an outlet of her feelings.

Q&A:1. What is Frida Kahlo best known for…. Answer self portraits2. Did Frida Kahlo paint a fantasy world or did she paint her true feelings… answer she painted her true feelings.

Art Project:Today We will be doing a ….Self Portrait on white paper with cray pas and crayon(craypas can smudge easily so be careful)You can either draw Frida Kahlo or yourself. There is a guide line on the desks incase people need help.Frida often painted her self with pets, with friends or with things she liked.You can be with your pet, favorite place, playing a sport etc….These are self portraits done by a 1st and 3rd grader.