The art of Frida Kahlo

In last week's column, I reviewed the life and work of Frida Kahlo, wife of famous Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera. Frida Kahlo eventually became a celebrated painter in her own right, although she only reached cult status after her death. In the previous article, I gave a chronological account of Frida's life and work and mentioned the two biographical films that document her life. In this column, I review some of Frida's most famous paintings, to give the reader a deeper insight into her mindset. Frida's work is very significant in terms of understanding some of Mexico's modern cultural landscape, since she has become synonymous with the notion of 'La Mexicana', (the Mexican woman).

The Bus - 1929

My dress hangs there 1933

The Two Fridas 1939

My Nurse and I - 1937

In this colourful painting, influences from Diego Rivera's style is clear. Frida depicts the different classes within Mexican society and their daily lives. Sitting side by side in this painting are a housewife with her market basket, a blue collar worker in overalls, an indigenous, barefoot mother breastfeeding her baby, a small boy, a well dressed capitalist 'Gringo' holding his bag of money and a young girl (possibly Frida herself).

Some elements in the painting may refer to the near fatal accident in which Frida was badly injured. For example, a man in blue overalls removed the handrail that pierced her body during the accident and a bag of gold dust spilled over Frida's injured, bloody body after the accident.

Henry Ford Hospital (The Flying Bed) 1932

In July 1932, Frida suffered a miscarriage in Detroit. In this disturbing painting, Kahlo shows herself lying on a bed in the Henry Ford Hospital after a miscarriage. The figure is unclothed, the sheet underneath is bloody and a tear falls from her left eye. The main subject (the bed with Frida lying on it) are surrounded by six floating images, all relating to the miscarriage. All of them are attached to red strings which she holds to her stomach, as though they were unbilical cords.

The main image is a perfectly formed male foetus (the mini Diego that she had longed for), the orchid was a gift from Diego and the snail alludes to the slow pace of the miscarriage. The pink female torso was Frida's idea of "showing the insides of a woman" and the cruel looking machine shows the "mechanical part of the whole business" she said. Finally she included the fractured pelvis in the lower right corner is there because it explains why she was unable to have children. This is undoubtedly one of the most painful pieces of work that Frida Kahlo produced.

Self portrait on the borderline between Mexico and the United States 1932

After being in the United States for nearly three years, Frida was growing homesick for Mexico. In this painting, she shows her ambivalence towards 'Gringolandia' (the United States). The painting shows her standing on the border line between the two countries. In an uncharacteristically sweet, pink dress, Frida stands like a statue on a pedestal between two completely different worlds.This painting is composed symmetrically with the space broken into foreground, middle ground, and background. In the foreground, all objects are placed neatly in a row and establish a border that guard the middle ground.

In Frida's left hand she holds a Mexican flag made of papel picado ('cut paper', a traditional Mexican art form) that crosses over to the Mexican side. This indicates where her heart and her true loyalties lie. In her right hand she holds a cigarette and this side of the image is dominated by what Kahlo sees as a representation of industry and the US. The right half has in its foreground a red blaring speaker, a dark flood light, a machine, a concrete block, and cables from all these mechanisms inside the earth. The middle ground is dominated by grey pipes and shafts, against a dirty beige background, which is engulfed by a horizon full of skyscrapers. Columns of smoke spew fumes within which the American flag flies. The name "Ford" is written across the industrialized chimneys. On the right side, she has painted the technologically dominated landscape of the United States in dull greys and blues.

The left half of the painting illustrates a Mesoamerican/Mexican landscape, with its warm, natural earthy colours, exotic plants and pieces of Aztec sculpture. The plant roots penetrate the earth to form a weblike pattern and the natural life cycle governs the Mexican side. The middle ground is dark brown and has two fertility figures (one light and one dark), along with rubble and a stone skeleton's head. A mountainous Mexican pyramid dominates the horizon. The sky has two cloud formations: one containing a fire spewing sun and the other embedded with the moon. The meeting of these two formations yield a red lightning bolt, showing the clash between two cultures. There is just one link between the two worlds - an electricity generator standing on U.S soil, which draws its power from the roots of a plant on the left (Mexican) side. This is significant because it is often said in Mexico that the U.S plundered Mexico of its natural resources, turned the materials into medicines and other marketable products and made enormous profits as a result.

My Dress Hangs There 1933

The Bus 1929

Following the miscarriage in 1932 and having lived three years in the United States, Frida's ambivalence became a desperate longing to return to her native Mexico. However, Diego, fascinated by the States and delighted by his popularity there, chose to stay there longer than Frida would have liked. It was out of that conflict that this painting came - Kahlo's one and only collage. It is an ironic representation of American capitalism and superficiality. Filled with symbols of a modern American industrial society, it points to social decay and the destruction of fundamental human values.

In this painting, Frida takes an opposite view to her husband, who expressed his approval of industrial progress in a mural at the Rockfeller Centre. The component that is missing from this painting is the focal point of most of her other paintings - herself. Instead her Tuhuana dress hangs empty admidst the choas in the background; possibly Frida's way of saying "I may be in America but only my dress hangs there - my life is in Mexico"

My Nurse and I 1937

Henry Ford Hospital (The Flying Bed)

Self portrait on border between Mexico & the USA

Frida's mother was never able to breastfeed her, so the family employed a Native American wet-nurse for the sole purpose of breastfeeding Frida. The relationship between the wet nurse and the infant appears cold and distant, reduced to a practical, biological function. As it was the adult Frida who had the memory, she has painted a fully grown head on herself as an infant. As she could not remember her wet nurse's facial features, she painted a pre- Columbian mask in its place. The wet nurse does not cuddle Frida but holds her as though presenting a sacrifice. In this image, Frida has subverted the 'Madonna and Child' mothering image into an expression of loss and separation from her own mother, with whom she never really bonded.

The Two Fridas 1939

Shortly after her divorce from Diego, Frida completed this self portrait of two very different personalities. On the right is the person that was loved and respected by Diego, the Mexican Frida in Tuhuana costume. In her hand she holds an amulet bearing the portrait of Diego as a child. On the left is a rather more European Frida in a lacy, white, Victorian wedding dress - the Frida that Diego abandoned. The hearts of the two versions of Frida lie exposed - a device Frida often used to express her pain.

The unloved Frida's heart is broken, while the loved Frida's heart is whole. From the amulet that this Frida clutches, springs a vein that runs through both women's hearts and is finally cut off by the surgical pincers in the hand of the rejected Frida. In despair, this Frida tries to stop the flow of blood from Diego but it keeps dripping and she is in danger of bleeding to death. The stormy sky, filled with agitated clouds may reflect Kahlo's inner turmoil. Holding her own hand, she is her only companion.

Frida Kahlo produced numerous other paintings and this is by no means an exhaustive list. However, it is beyond the scope of this article to explore all of those paintings. Additionally some of her work is rather gruesome and I am reluctant to impose too many of the more graphic, disturbing paintings on the public. Subsequent columns will review the life and work of Frida's husband, Diego Rivera, and a fictional epistolary from Angelina Beloff, to Diego, who was her former lover.

This should help to further contextualise Frida's life experiences, her inner world and the paintings which she produced in response to these.

The writer has a Masters Degree in Hispanic and European Studies from Aberdeen University, Scotland. She also writes for The Guardian (UK).