• Frida Kahlo grew up in a house called La Casa Azul (The Blue House) with her parents and six sisters. That house is now the Frida Kahlo museum.
• When she was six, Frida contracted polio, which left her bedridden for months. This cause her right leg to be shorter and thinner than her left.
• In 1922, Frida became one of a few female students to attend school. She enrolled at National Preparatory School and became known as a girl who loved colorful clothes.
• She enjoyed Politics and Science and as a teenager had dreamed of being a doctor, with art being a side hobby nurtured by her father, who was a photographer.
• In 1925, Frida was involved in a bus accident, that forever changed her life.
• The near-fatal injuries kept Kahlo hospitalized and bedridden for months. It was during this time that Kahlo’s father created a special easel that allowed her to paint in bed. She began to paint away her pain. She underwent dozens of surgeries in her lifetime and was constantly plagued with health issues.
• Frida married Diego Rivera, a famed Mexican artist in 1929. Frida’s mother did not approve. The two had a complex marriage but were always supportive of each other’s artistic projects.
• Frida was proud and inspired by her Mexican heritage, the bright colors, patterns, natural elements, and symbolism. She often featured, skulls, flowers, and animals such as monkeys and parrots, in her powerfully detailed self-portraits.
• In 1938, Kahlo held her first major exhibition in New York. About half of her 25 paintings on display were sold. In 1939, Kahlo went to live in Paris for a time. She exhibited some of her paintings and developed a friendship with Pablo Picasso.
• In April 1953, her first solo exhibition in Mexico at the Galería Arte Contemporaneo opened. At the time, Kahlo was on bed rest-doctor’s orders and not expected to attend. However, she arrived by ambulance and had her 4-poster bed moved into the gallery, so she never left her bed as she greeted her guests and admires.
• 55 of her 143 paintings are self-portrait
Reference sites:
https://mymodernmet.com/frida-kahlo-facts and https://www.biography.com/artist/frida-kahlo
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