Who is Frida Kahlo?
The artist’s story began long before her birth. The Fates conspired a head injury and an overseas trip to ensure her conception. In 1890, her father, Wilhelm Kahlo of Germany, sustained a brain injury in a fall from which he suffered epileptic seizures. This occurred at the same time his mother died and his father remarried.
The artist Frida Kahlo was born on 6 July 1907. Her home in Mexico City was a house known as the Blue House. At the age of six, Kahlo was struck down with polio. This caused her right leg to appear much thinner than her left for the rest of her life. Later, she would be struck with a much more serious disability. The young Frida Kahlo was described as a tomboy. At high school, she became the ringleader of a gang comprised mainly of boys, who continuously caused trouble. It was also at the National Preparatory High School that she met her future husband. Diego Rivera was a famous Mexican muralist who was painting the school’s auditorium when they met. At the age of 18, Frida Kahlo was riding a bus when she had a near fatal accident. The bus crash left her with a broken collarbone, spinal column, ribs and pelvis. Kahlo was forced to stay flat in bed for a month, encased in plaster and enclosed in a box like structure. Kahlo made a remarkable recovery and began painting due to the boredom
