Frida Kahlo

I have always admired and been intrigued by the art and life of Frida Kahlo and loved teaching my students about her.  Unfortunately, all some people remember about her is the uni-brow or the fact that she was the wife of Diego Rivera. 
I admire Frida for her stamina and courage to pursue her passion.  She endured much pain and sadness, which would have been overwhelming for most, in her life.  She was studying at the National Preparatory in Mexico City when that horrific streetcar accident occurred, but she always said that was not the worst accident in her life....Diego Rivera was much worse. 
Painting was Frida's salvation and a visual diary of her life.  We, the viewer, can see and feel her pain, caused by everything from childhood polio to the streetcar accident to a problematic marriage to the inability to have a child and to finally, the consent to have her leg amputated.  Gradually, it just wore her down.
The fairly recent interest in Kahlo has been the impetus for large exhibits of her work, including one in Philadelphia that I had the privilege to attend. 
For these reasons, I chose to copy one of Frida's portraits for our "Fabulous Forgeries" Exhibit at The Artists Gallery.  The one I recreated is entitled "Self -Portrait with Thorny Necklace and Dead Hummingbird", painted by Frida in 1940 after her marriage to Diego had ended.  Life without Diego is expressed in her downtrodden expression....heavy eyelids, the hostile cat and the monkey that tugs at her thorny necklace.  The dead hummingbird is a symbol of woe and echoes the arc of her eyebrows and her exaggerated mustache. 
For further information, there are many books about the life of Frida Kahlo.  I recommend the book, Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver which has a great deal of information about Frida and Diego's life in Mexico.