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Frida Kahlo: Portraits of Life and Emotional Pain
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Frida Kahlo:
Portraits of Life and Emotional Pain
“ I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent good feeling. “ – Frida Kahlo
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July 6, 1907 - July 13, 1954
Henry Ford Hospital
I aborted in the blink of an eye – Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo's inability to become a mother brought her a lifetime of heartache and emotional pain. After suffering a miscarriage and facing the reality of possibly never being able to have a child of her own she took and emotional journey painting for the first time on metal sheet to represent the pain and hurt she was feeling. The surrealist style painting “Henry Ford Hospital” depicts Kahlo’s helpless small naked body with tears flowing from her eyes lying on an oversized bed bleeding before the abortion was performed to complete the process of her miscarriage. Lying on the bed with her belly still swollen, six elements surrounds her bound to her hand with red ribbons that are representations of umbilical cords. A small snail floats above the head of the bed as a symbol of the gradualness of the miscarriage. Hanging in the middle above the bed is a male fetus symbolic of the male son she wished to one day have and next to the fetus on the left side is a pink orthopedic cast of the pelvic alluding to the fractures of her spinal column. On the floor next to her bed on the left side is a machine, in the middle lies an orchid like the one she received from her husband and on the right side appears a pelvic bone. The background of the painting is a view of the Ford Motor Company where her husband Diego was hired to paint murals. Kahlo’s painting “Henry Ford Hospital” is perhaps one of the most painful and provocative self -portraits she ever painted. A work of art showcasing herself as a woman struggling to overcome a sorrowful, life-changing event whose outcome she had little control over and whose consequences she has to deal with throughout her existence.
The lost desire...
Figure 1: Frida Kahlo, “Henry Ford Hospital" (1932), oil on metal, 12 1/4 x 15 1/2 cm. Collection of Dolores Olmedo Patino, Mexico City, Mexico.
Girl with Death Mask
Frida Kahlo’s painting Girl with Death Mask was painted on metal support while she was mourning the death of the baby she lose by miscarriage. Kahlo had been on the brink of death before when she was involved in the bus accident, death had become one of her most intimate and personal themes. In the painting a small child wearing a skeleton mask, holding a yellow flower, and standing next to a jaguar mask on her right side is reflective of the traditional Mexican festival “Day of the Dead” where instead of mourning death it is celebrated. The mask and marigold flower are traditional Mexican artifacts which prove the inescapable nature of death (Museo Dolores Olmedo 1). The mask next to the child’s feet was for the protection of the child against evil. Girl with Death Mask is amongst one of Kahlo’s most jarring pieces of work, surpassed only by “What the Water Gave Me” drawing the audience’s attention to their looming demise.
Brink of Death...
Figure 2: Frida Kahlo, “Girl with Death Mask (She Plays Alone),” 1938, oil on metal, 14.9 x 11 cm. Collection of Museum of Art, Nagoya, Japan.
What the Water Gave Me
The painting “What the Water Gave Me” also referred to as “What I Saw in the Water” is a Naïve (Primitivism) style of art symbolic of the passing of time from Kahlo's childhood to her adult life and all the sadness of her life experiences. It has often been referred to as memoir of Kahlo’s life, representing comfort and loss as well as life and death. In the painting Kahlo lies in grey water with toes pointing up from the water and reflecting back into the water with a partial view of her thighs shown. Floating in the bath water is a Mexican dress, seashell with holes, a photo of her and her husband, two female lovers, Kahlo's naked body and a volcano erupting which are all symbolic of her life struggles. “What the Water Gave Me” was one of Kahlo’s most personal and telling paintings. In the painting, the Volcano erupting is the most significant part as it is a symbol of her no longer feeling the need and desire to ignore her feelings about her body, marriage to Diego, and the pain she has suffered most of her life. “What the Water Gave Me” embodies the physical manifestation of pain and the discernible changes that accompany it. It is a symbol of self discovery for Frida Kahlo.
I Drank to Drown My Pain...
Figure 3: Frida Kahlo, “What the Water Gave Me,” 1938, oil on canvas, 91 x 70.5 cm. Collection of Daniel Flipacchi, Paris, France.
The Two Fridas
Frida Kahlo's marriage to Diego Rivera was a significant part of her life, both personally and artistically. Her marriage was a major part of the emotional pain she experienced throughout her life. The Two Fridas is a brilliant piece of art work done by Kahlo after her divorce from Diego Rivera. It is one of her most recognizable pieces of work and it is symbolic of the emotional pain she experienced from her divorce. It depicts two versions of herself with their hearts exposed - one dressed in a European embroidery style white lace dress with blood stains and another in traditional Tehuana dress which she started to wear after marrying Rivera. The painting emphasizes Kahlo’s tendency to flout convention since the painting implies one can be traditional and progressive as well. As in many of Kahlo’s self-portraits her facial expressions are distant and stoic with her unibrow and facial hair being very prominently displayed to reflect the pain and anguish she felt from her husband’s constant infidelity which ultimately led to their divorce. Revealing two sides of herself in the painting, Kahlo illustrates her sadness, heartache and the pain she felt not only from her divorce but throughout her other life tragedies. The painting allows her to exercise her emotional pain and serves as an outlet for the pain that she felt because of Diego Rivera’s betrayal combined with the pain of her miscarriages, bus accident and childhood polio. As with all of Kahlo’s artwork work there is a reflection and symbolism of the pain and despair she experienced throughout her life and The Two Fridas is another representation of that pain. The Two Fridas is the least jarring and least provocative compared to the four other works included in this exhibit. Still, it explores a significant issue - the unease most individuals have concerning exploring various aspects of their personality.
The Hurt and Pain of Divorce...
Figure 4: Frida Kahlo, “The Two Fridas,” 1939, oil on canvas, 175.5 x 173 cm. Collection of Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino, Mexico City, Mexico.
The Broken Column
Pain, Torment and Broken Dreams ...
At the age of eighteen, Frida Kahlo was seriously injured in a bus accident ending her dreams of becoming a doctor and would cause her severe pain throughout her life. Accompanied with the physical pain from the accident, the emotional pain of her tumultuous marriage to Diego Rivera, and the physical and emotional pain of several miscarriages she reflected that pain throughout her artwork. One of her most symbolic self-portraits “The Broken Column” was painted after she had undergone one of many spinal column surgeries. In the painting she is depicted standing in a cracked landscape with metal belts around her torso and fabric to support her back. Her face is full of tears but it shows no signs of pain. She is presenting a strong and defiant attitude toward life. The nails piercing her body is symbolic of the constant physical and emotional pain she has endured most of her life. Along the column are the larger nails representing the damage caused from the bus accident in 1925 and the nails on the left breast are symbolic of the emotional pain and her now feeling of solitude. The Broken Column painting evokes strong emotions among viewers including empathy and awe since Kahlo appears defiant regardless of her physical condition. It embodies many elements of her artwork to include the themes of isolation, a broken body, intense pain and her theme of reflecting two bodies. As with all of Kahlo's work she uses her pain and her life experiences to create beautiful art to tell her life's journey.
Figure 5: Frida Kahlo, “The Broken Column,” 1944, oil on masonite, 39.8 x 30.6 cm. Collection of Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City, Mexico .