Roland Faba| Retrato de Frida Kahlo (Portrait of Frida Kahlo)| 1990 | Acrylic on canvas | Artwork donated byHanson, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren & Sloane| [02 0127]
Frida Kahlo is one of the most influential and well-known artists of Latin descent from the twentieth century. Born in Mexico to a German photographer and a Catholic housewife, she came of age during an era of great political change and the emergence of modern art.
Around the age of 6, she contracted polio, which damaged her right leg and foot. At 18 years old she suffered injuries from a devastating bus accident that left her with a lifetime of pain and unable to bear children. While bed-ridden in a body cast she began to paint, channeling her anguish and pain through self-portraits of striking surreal images that addressed the duality of her heritage and her fractured body. This duality permeated through other areas of Frida’s life as she engaged in love affairs and made the traditional Mexican style of hair and dress her signature look.
She was married to the celebrated Mexican artist Diego Rivera, a union that proved to be synergistic as he often painted her into his murals, yet also tumultuous as she struggled with his notorious infidelity.
Despite poor health throughout much of her life, Frida's passion went beyond art and love as she was also extremely political, joining the communist league as a student and actively supporting key figures of the movement.