Symbols, Strength, and Survival

How do Frida Kahlo's life experiences inform her art?

December 2019

Frida Kahlo: Bettmann Archives/Getty Images.

Frida Kahlo and one of her pet monkeys

Frida Kahlo (FREE-dah KAH-loh) dreamed of becoming a doctor. As a child, she contracted polio, a disease that deformed her right leg. Inspired by the doctors who saved her, she hoped to someday provide medical care for others. But polio was just the first of many hardships Kahlo would face in her life.

When she became an artist as a young woman, Kahlo worked independently and developed her own artistic language. Members of the Surrealist group claimed her as one of their own when they saw her strange, emotional paintings, saying her work embodied Surrealism’s key ideas. But unlike the other Surrealists, Kahlo said that she didn’t “paint dreams or nightmares.” Instead, her suffering moved her to explore symbols of pain, painting her “own reality.”

Frida Kahlo (FREE-dah KAHL-loh) wanted to be a doctor. As a child, she had polio. This disease deformed her right leg. Kahlo hoped to help others in the same way doctors helped her. But troubles in her life would change her path.

Kahlo became an artist as a young woman. She was an independent artist. She developed a style different from other artists of her time. Members of the Surrealist group believed that her strange paintings fit with Surrealism’s ideas. But Kahlo disagreed. She said she didn’t “paint dreams or nightmares.” She painted her “own reality.”

Brave Beginnings

Kahlo was born in 1907 in a Mexico City suburb to a German father and a Mexican mother. As a teen, Kahlo studied science to prepare for medical school. One day when she was 18 years old, she was on her way home from school when a tram struck her bus. The accident nearly killed Kahlo and crushed her dream of becoming a doctor. She suffered extensive injuries, and would endure chronic pain and multiple surgeries for the rest of her life. Kahlo began painting while she was bedridden after the accident. “I am not sick. I am broken,” Kahlo said. “But I am happy as long as I can paint.”

In her 1929 work The Bus, above, the artist paints the day of the accident. Kahlo shows a group of people riding the bus, including a serious-looking young woman—possibly representing Kahlo herself. A child looks toward the horizon as the other figures focus inward. Would you associate this image with an accident if you didn’t know the artist’s story?

Kahlo was born in 1907 near Mexico City. Her father was German and her mother was Mexican. When she was 18, a trolley crashed into the bus she was riding. The accident seriously injured her, crushing her dreams of being a doctor. Kahlo began painting while she recovered from the accident. “I am happy as long as I can paint,” she said.

Kahlo paints the day of the accident in her 1929 work The Bus, above. She shows a group of people riding the bus. Some think the serious-looking young woman is Kahlo herself. A child looks toward the horizon. The other figures face the viewer. Would you think this image was related to an accident if you didn’t know the artist’s story?

“I don’t paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.”

—Frida Kahlo

Natural Beauty

Kahlo is known for her self-portraits. She spent a lot of time examining her appearance while confined to her bed. In self-portraits like the one at left, Kahlo explores her ties to Mexican culture. She tells stories about her experiences through the symbols she includes.

Her 1940 Self-Portrait With Monkey, above, features one of her many pets. Overlapping leaves in the background represent Mexican foliage. A red ribbon woven through Kahlo’s hair and around both her and the monkey’s neck symbolizes the bond between herself and the natural world. Kahlo exaggerates her bold eyebrows and the hair on her upper lip, challenging European ideals of beauty.

When many people think of Kahlo, they think of her self-portraits. After the horrible accident, doctors instructed her to spend a lot of time in bed. Kahlo would examine her appearance in a mirror. In Self-Portrait With Monkey, left, she uses symbols to share her experiences. She paints a red ribbon around herself and her pet monkey. She renders overlapping leaves in the background. These symbols show her connection to nature. Kahlo makes her bold brows stand out to celebrate her appearance.

Wounded Warrior

In her 1946 work The Little Deer, above, Kahlo paints an injured deer but replaces the animal’s head with her own. Nine arrows pierce the deer’s flesh. A tree with a fractured limb appears on the right in the foreground, and a fallen branch lies on the forest floor. These symbols representing violence and death express Kahlo’s physical and emotional pain.

Echoing reality, Kahlo wears an eerily serene expression in this painting despite her wounds. She remained resilient throughout the adversities she faced. Kahlo became famous before her death at age 47, showing her work abroad and continuing to associate with the Surrealists. “Hers is a sort of ‘naïve’ Surrealism, which she invented for herself,” one scholar explains.

Compare Kahlo’s paintings with those by Salvador Dalí and Remedios Varo. How are they different?

Since she was a young girl, Kahlo was in pain. She expresses her pain in her 1946 work The Little Deer, above. She paints an injured deer. But she replaces the animal’s head with her own. Nine arrows pierce the body. There is a decaying tree on the right in the foreground. These symbols represent Kahlo’s suffering. Although she’s wounded, Kahlo’s face looks calm. In real life, the artist stayed strong through her illness.

Kahlo became famous before her death at age 47. She showed her work around the world and remained friends with many of the Surrealists. Compare Kahlo’s paintings with the works by Salvador Dalí and Remedios Varo. How are they different?