Natalee Wolfe
09/18/2024
I welcome you to “Visionary Spotlight”. This will be a new series of articles written by me, Natalee Wolfe, showcasing artists from history’s past to present time. I wanted to launch off this series with one of my favorites. This is the reason I chose Frida Kahlo de Rivera, more famously known as Frida Kahlo. She is best known for her self portraits which are made in extravagant colors.
She was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico. Kahlo's mother is of Spanish descent while her father actually found his origins in Germany. Her father was a professional photographer. Kahlo was very close with her father, as she was always helping around in the studio. At the age of six, she was diagnosed with Polio which left her with a limp that became chronic as she aged. Although she hoped to study medicine in school, she would take drawing classes. She attended National Preparatory School which is where she met her future husband, Diego Rivera, while he was painting a mural.
In 1925, Kahlo was struck by a bus at the age of 18. While in recovery, she taught herself to paint. She studied the art of Old Masters over her recovery. One of her early paintings is a self portrait which she painted in 1926. As life continued she kept making beautiful paintings, as well as progressing her skills. Many of those paintings ended up in museums. One of which became a museum specifically dedicated to her and her life. It is in the town where she was born, the museum is named La Casa de Azul in Coyoacán, Mexico. I hope to visit it someday! Frida Kahlo was a true inspiration to art!