Mexican painter celebrated for vivid, symbolic self-portraits exploring pain, identity and Mexican culture, and an enduring feminist icon
Did you know?She originally intended to study medicine before a serious bus accident at a young age left her unable to pursue that career.
Quick facts
Date of birth6 July 1907
Date of death13 July 1954
Age at death47
Cause of deathPulmonary embolism, bronchopneumonia
NationalityMexican
BirthplaceCoyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico
Occupationpainter
Editor's Take:
Frida Kahlo turned her own pain into some of the most recognisable art of the twentieth century. A bus accident at eighteen left her with lifelong injuries, and she began painting while confined to bed, using a mirror fixed above her to study her own face. Her self-portraits, about a third of her work, blend Mexican folk traditions, surreal imagery and unflinching honesty about her body, her marriage to the painter Diego Rivera and her heartbreak. During her lifetime she was often seen as Rivera's wife; today she is far more famous than him. Her image, with its bold flowers and unibrow, has become a worldwide symbol of resilience and individuality.
Key Milestones
1925: Badly injured in a bus accident
1929: Marries Diego Rivera
1938: First solo exhibition in New York
1939: Paints The Two Fridas
1939: The Louvre buys one of her paintings
1953: Holds her only solo show in Mexico
Painter celebrated for her vivid self-portraits and works inspired by Mexican popular culture.
“Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly?”
