Kahlo was born in 1907 in Coyoacán, a small suburb of Mexico City, and grew up during the Mexican Revolution. She contracted polio at the age of six, but recovered. At the age of fifteen, she started attending the National Preparatory School in Mexico City, one of the best schools in the country. As one of only thirty-five girls in a school of about 2,000 students, she began studying medicine.
Three years later, at the age of eighteen, Kahlo’s life changed dramatically when a bus she was riding collided with a trolley car. She suffered horrible injuries, including a broken back, a broken pelvis, a crushed leg, and a pierced uterus. During the following months of recovery in the hospital, Kahlo’s parents brought her oil paints, a special easel she could use in bed, and a mirror. This is how Kahlo’s career as a painter began.
Kahlo’s most famous works are her numerous self portraits, which combine elements of realism, surrealism, and indigenous Mexican symbolism. Her paintings boldly depicted her suffering, both physical (her accident resulted in ongoing health problems and dozens of surgeries) and mental (she wanted to have children, but the accident left her unable to). Many people consider Kahlo a precursor to the feminist movement because of her openness in expressing pain and sexuality in her works.
Kahlo is just as well known for her chaotic personal life, which included her two tumultuous marriages to the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, her fervent support for Communism, and her eventual dependence on drugs and alcohol.
In 1954, Kahlo’s right leg was amputated due to gangrene. She died later the same year, at the age of forty-seven. The official cause of death was an embolism, but some still suspect that the real cause was suicide.
Kahlo was moderately successful during her lifetime. She had three solo shows: one in New York City, one in Paris, and one in Mexico City shortly before her death. However, it wasn’t until after she died (in the early 1980s) that her popularity exploded and she started being regarded as a cult figure. One reason for this was the emergence of the Neomexicanismo movement, which valued contemporary Mexican artists. Another reason was the release of a number of books and movies about Kahlo’s life.
