Spektor-khalo

Frida Kahlo presentation by Sophia Spektor and Shaira Mosharraf

=Frida Kahlo Biography (1907 - 1954)= = = Frida Kahlo de Rivera, original name Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón

 =Frida Kahlo first self-portrait =
 * Frida Kahlo was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon in Coyoacan, Mexico July 6th, 1907. She was one of four daughters born to a Hungarian-Jewish //father// and a mother of Spanish and Mexican Indian descent. She did not originally plan to become an artist. A survivor of polio, she entered a pre-med program in Mexico City. At the age of 18, she was seriously injured in a bus accident. She spent over a year in bed recovering from fractures to her spine, collarbone and ribs, a shattered pelvis, and shoulder and foot injuries. She endured more than 30 operations in her lifetime, and during her convalescence she began to paint. Her paintings, mostly self-portraits and still life, were deliberately naive, and filled with the colors and forms of Mexican folk art. At 22, she married the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, 20 years her senior. Their stormy, passionate relationship survived infidelities, the pressures of careers, divorce, remarriage, Frida's lesbian affairs, her poor health and her inability to have children.
 * During her lifetime, Frida created some 200 paintings, drawings and sketches related to her experiences in life, physical and emotional pain and her turbulent relationship with Diego. She produced 143 paintings, 55 of which are self-portraits. She painted pictures of herself because she was lonely and she said "//I am the person I know best."//

Her first self-portrait. she paints this as a gift for her boyfriend. Alejandro Gomez, who has left her suspecting she had been unfaithful prior to the accident. hoping that she can win him back with the painting.

"What the water gave me"
Metaphorical self-portrait of what life had given her.


 * Shortly after her divorce from Diego Rivera, Frida completed this self-portrait of two different personalities. Frida's diary says this painting had its origin in her memory of an imaginary childhood friend. Later she admitted it records the emotions surrounding her separation and martial crisis. On the right, the part of her person which was respected and loved by Diego, is the Mexican Frida in Tehuana costume. In her hand she holds an amulet bearing the portrait of Diego as a child. On the left, a more rather European Frida in a lacy white Victorian wedding dress, the Frida that Diego abandoned. The hearts of the two women lie exposed, a device Frida often used to express her pain. The unloved Frida's heart is broken while the other Frida's heart is whole


 * [[image:spektor-kahlo-unborn_baby1.jpg width="614" height="483"]]

**Questioning the Story:**

On September 17, 1925, when she was 18, Frida was involved in a serious trolley accident (as depicted in the film).  The accident left frida with a broken spinal column, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, and eleven fractures in her right leg. Also, her right foot was dislocated and crushed, and her shoulder was out of joint. Frida spent a month lying on her back. She was encased in a plaster cast and enclosed in a boxlike structure. She began painting to pass the time while healing in bed. It became her lifelong passion.
 * When did Frida Kahlo develop a passion for painting?**

Frida had 32 operations in an attempt to quell some of her lasting pain from the accident. She lived with bouts of pain and discomfort throughout her life, and was often bedridden and or hospitalized for periods of time. In addition to the operations to alleviate her pain, she also wore different kinds of corsets and was subjected to mechanical "stretching" systems.
 * How many operations did Frida have in an attempt to alleviate her pain and suffering?**

**When did Frida's lifelong physical suffering actually begin?** Frida's physical suffering began when she contracted polio at the age of five. As a result, the illness caused her right leg to appear much thinner than her left, and it remained that way permanently.

**Why did the real Frida give her birth date as July 7, 1910, contradicting the July 6, 1907 birth date on her birth certificate?** 1910 was the year of the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution. Frida wanted her life to begin with the modern Mexico. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;"> Yes, she was. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">Frida had many lovers, both men and women, including the communist, Leon Trotsky, played by Geoffrey Rush in the film. Like in the movie, in real life Frida Kahlo had several rumored love affairs with women, including the famous actresses Dolores Del Rio and Paulette Goddard. She was also involved in affairs with the wife of the surrealist poet Andre Breton and the famous artist Georgia O'Keeffe. Frida was quoted saying the following about her relationship with Georgia, "O'Keefe was in the hospital for three months, she went to Bermuda for a rest. She didn't make love to me that time, I think on account of her weakness. Too bad."
 * Was Frida Kahlo really a bisexual, as shown in the film?**

Frida is often classed as a surrealist, and she had no special explanations for her methods. She said only: "I put on the canvas whatever comes into my mind." Her self-portraits often shocked the public, and included paintings of herself with her hands cut off, as a wounded deer, and another with herself coming out of her mother during her birth. Browse an 11 page Frida Kahlo Gallery [|here]. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">
 * Why did Frida Kahlo paint the way that she did?**
 * How much have Frida Kahlo's paintings sold for?**
 * [[image:http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/frida/sister_1928.jpg width="135" height="180" caption="Portrait of Christina, My Sister (1928)"]] || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">Frida's oil on panel painting titled //Portrait of Christina, My Sister// (1928) was auctioned at [|Sotheby's] for $1,655,750.

[|See more of Frida Kahlo's Paintings]... || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">**What is the story surrounding Frida's cremation?** I don't know if this is true, and I'm not sure if anyone does know for sure, but legend has it that when mourners gathered to watch Frida's cremation, a sudden blast of heat from the open incinerator doors blew her body bolt upright. Her hair was on fire from the flames, and blazed around her head like a halo. Frida's lips appeared to break into a seductive grin just as the doors closed shut. Thus, she gave her audience one last shock.

It is said that Frida's husband, Diego Rivera, ate some of Frida's ashes after her cremation. A year later in 1955, Diego married Emma Hurtado, his art dealer since 1946. Diego set up a trust fund to provide for the administration of Anahuacalli and Frida Kahlo's Coyoacán homes as museums. At age 70, Diego Rivera died of heart failure in his San Angel studio. He is buried in the Rotonda de los Hombres Ilustres at the pantheon of Dolores, Mexico City.
 * What happened to Diego Rivera after Frida Kahlo's death in 1954?**

Many are in museums. Frida's painting depicting her birth ("My Birth," 1932) is owned by Madonna.
 * Where are the original Frida Kahlo paintings?**

My research has led me to conclude that this so called religion known as Kahloism originated online, likely first appearing on Kimberley Masters' now defunct web site, which included the credo of Kahloism. Basically, it came from the imagination of a die-hard fan (Masters). Kahloism can more simply be interpreted as the adoration of Frida Kahlo.
 * Is there a religion today that worships Frida Kahlo?**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> **Image - Frida in a Man's Suit - February 7, 1926:**


 * <span style="display: block; text-align: center; font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">[[image:http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/frida/frida_suit.jpg width="189" height="231" caption="Frida"]] || <span style="display: block; text-align: left; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The photograph was taken by Frida's father on February 7, 1926 as part of a series of family photos taken on that day. Frida donned the outfit to shock her highly conventional family. ||

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> **Image - Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera - Wedding Day:**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">([|Click Image to Enlarge]) || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The photograph at left was taken on Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's wedding day, August 21, 1929. They would divorce one year later. ||
 * [[image:http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/frida/weddingday1929_sm.jpg width="134" height="195" link="http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/frida/weddingday1929.jpg"]]



media type="youtube" key="IJYAg36n19I" height="344" width="425"

media type="youtube" key="NArbGCK_hrI" height="344" width="425" Birth name Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón Born July 6, 1907(1907-07-06) Coyoacán, Mexico Died July 13, 1954 (aged 47) Coyoacán, Mexico Nationality Mexican Field Painting Training Self–taught Movement Surrealism Works in museums:


 * Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
 * Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires, Argentina
 * Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico City
 * Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin
 * Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Wisconsin
 * Museo Dolores Olmedo, Xochimilco, Mexico City
 * Museo de Arte Moderno, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
 * Museum of Modern Art, New York City
 * Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
 * San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California

A significant portion of Frida's work is self-portraits, and her unibrow and mustached upper lip peer out Posters of Frida and reproductions of her artwork can be found on many web sites. Here a decal of Frida shows her trademark unibrow. Posters of Frida and reproductions of her artwork can be found on many web sites. A significant portion of Frida's work is self-portraits, and her unibrow and mustached upper lip peer out Posters of Frida and reproductions of her artwork can be found on many web sites. Here a decal of Frida shows her trademark unibrow. || defiantly from the tin sheets on which she painted. Patrons and friends:
 * [[image:http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/images/understanding_img3.gif width="100" height="155" caption="Posters of Frida and reproductions of her artwork can be found on many web sites. Here a decal of Frida shows her trademark unibrow."]]


 * Julian Levy Gallery, New York City
 * Renou & Colle Gallery, Paris
 * Nickolas Muray
 * Lola Alvarez Bravo
 * Marcel Duchamp
 * André Breton