Frida Kahlo begin and ended her life in Mexico City, in her own home known as The Blue House. Her paintings are surreal and contain folk art elements, and are championed for their uncompromising depiction of the female experience. She suffered from life long health problems, mostly stemming from a horrible accident in which she was riding a bus that collided with a trolley car. Besides breaking many bones, a handrail pierced her abdomen and her uterus, which damaged her reproductive ability. Often her paintings were of herself and centered around her life living with the pain of these injuries. Her work is bold, beautiful, powerful, and at times quite disturbing. She also had two stormy marriages with the great Mexican artist Diego Rivera.
Because of her immobility, Kahlo often painted self-portraits. She once said, "I paint myself because I am often alone and because I am the subject I know best." She used her personal experiences, including her marriage, her miscarriages, and her numerous operations as subjects for her work. " I never painted my dreams. I painted my own reality."
Kahlo was also influenced by indigenous Mexican culture, which is apparent in her use of bright colors and dramatic symbolism. Monkeys and other animals often appeared in her pictures as well as Christian and Jewish themes. All of this was combined with a graphic surrealism.
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