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Poetess of pain
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The tumultuous life of artist Frida Kahlo comes alive tonight on World Movies
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Public personal Frida Kahlo’s self portraits were a revelation of her internal trauma as well external circumstances
One of the most enigmatic painters and undoubtedly the most celebrated woman artist of the early 20th century, Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) lead a tumultuous life plagued by physical trauma and mental suffering. Her paintings were distinctly biographic. &
#8220;I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best…I never painted dreams; I painted my own reality”.
Writes Gloria K Fiero of University of South Western Louisiana in The Humanistic Tradition : “Kahlo created a body of work that recorded the experience of chronic pain, both physical and psychic. Her paintings also betray her close identification with Mexican folk culture and her deep appreciation of the beauty and expressive power of folk art. “
Born in Mexico City in 1907 to a photographer-father of Hungarian Jewish descent and Spanish/Native American mother, Kahlo became a victim of polio when she was just six; the disease forced her to walk with a limp throughout her life. Still in her teens Kahlo was nearly killed in a bus-tramcar accident. She survived but her pelvis, collar bone, spinal column were crushed and seriously injured. During the next twenty-nine years she under went thirty-five operations and lived in constant pain. Many of her works were painted lying in the bed using a special easel made for her by her mother.
Despite the many health-related problems and a progressively debilitating body Kahlo lead a full life as a passionate artist and political activist with strong leftist beliefs. Her marriage to Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera in 1929 turned out to be both stimulating and stormy. Living in politically-charged times, Kahlo painted 143 paintings in all, suffusing them with bright colours and powerful symbols. Her 55 self portraits were a revelation of her internal self and trauma as well the external circumstances she was located in. Kahlo became a celebrity in her own lifetime exhibiting her work in New York City, Paris and Mexico city. In 1939, after a solo exhibition in Paris, the Louvre bought a painting of hers; she received high praise from the likes of Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky. When Kahlo died in her sleep in July 1954, she was just 47. Her last diary entry read: ‘I hope the end is joyful - and I hope never to come back. - Frida.’”
Forty-eight years after her death, “Frida” (2002), an engrossing feature film directed by Julie Taymor and starring the vivacious Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo and Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera became a super hit. The film, which was co-produced by Hayek went on to be nominated for six Oscars.“Frida” is being telecast at 8.30 p.m. today on UTV World Movies.
GIRIDHAR KHASNIS
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