A Biography Of Frida Kahlo - 1414 Words

Hayden Herrera’s book Frida, A Biography of Frida Kahlo (1983) writes with engrossing detail the life story of the famous Mexican painter Frida Kahlo known for her folk art with vibrant colors and elements of surrealism. Herrera captivates her audience by telling the challenging journey and the various important obstacles Kahlo had to face throughout her entire life during the twentieth-century. Herrera explains how Kahlo’s various masterpieces have been shaped by her life circumstances and experiences like her childhood in Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution; the traumatic accident when she was a young girl that left her incapacitated and unable to bear children; her turbulent marriage with muralist Diego Rivera and love affairs;†¦show more content†¦Kahlo began to paint in while she was recuperating from the devastating accident she faced when she was merely eighteen years old that would change her life forever. The accident occurred when a trolley cras hed in to the small wooden bus she was riding in. The accident which nearly killed her, left Kahlo partially invalid which including three broken places to her spinal column, a broken collarbone, two broken ribs, three broken places to her pelvis, eleven fractures in her right leg, a crushed and dislocated right foot, and a dislocated shoulder. A steal rod also impaled her in the uterus exiting through her vagina leaving her unable to bear children. Due to this event Kahlo stated, â€Å"I lost my virginity† (Herrera, 49). Herrera explains that many of Kahlo’s supporters view her tragic accident as if it were Kahlo’s destiny. Kahlo was destined to endure a long life of pain and anguish in order to create the unusual, morbidly unique works of art. Kahlo was compelled to wear a full cast that cover a third of her body; wrapping from her chest down to her feet. Her painting started on her body cast which began her journey through the world of art. She abandoned her studies of medicine because of her immobilization and gave up her medical career to fulfill her career as a painter instead. Kahlo’s first greatest paintings begin during this time, My Grandparents, My Parents and I (1936).