Table of Contents
Frida Kahlo is one of the best painters who came out of Mexico. Her works were majorly defined by the pain she went through from when she was very young and how she was able to persevere and overcome. When you know much about her life, and how she lived it, going through her paintings will be very eye-opening. She was basically an open book. Her life was reflected in her works.
As a pioneer of so many firsts in the art world, Frida Kahlo effectively broke many molds in which she was thrust. Her style was diverse, eclectic and quite interesting. In this article, we would try to explain some of Frida Kahlo’s art style.
Freedom
During her lifetime, Frida Kahlo worked with a lot of women and made them realize that displaying one’s frustrations, pains and shortcomings is actually okay. She validated the phenomena of women having their thoughts and life reflected in their work without having to worry about ridicule or censor. This was not hidden in Frida Kahlo art style.
127 our experts are availableright now
A Painter of Realities
Although many consider her a surrealist, Frida insisted she was not one, as she paints her realities and not dreams. This can be seen in the depiction of her works; in the painting of her relationship with her husband, in the paintings of her experience when she had her life changing accident, in the depictions of her pain when she had all those miscarriages, all these show in her work again and again.
Identity Fascinated Her
She made a lot of self-portraits as she was often alone with her thoughts. These made her unflinchingly interested in individual identities, in the history of a character, and also the roles that define us as wives, husbands, friends, fathers, mothers, lover, etc. Frida was particularly interested in dissecting her own role in her personal relationships, as an artist, a wife, and a lover.
Religious Symbolism
Oftentimes, you also find religion mixed in as symbols in her works. In one of her famous paintings, she appears as a Madonna, in another as the Virgin Mary and in yet another as the martyred Christ. She sees herself in Saint Sebastian, views herself as a prophet (depicted in the painting she did in the last supper style). Frida represented herself in different religious symbolism.
Gender Equality
For a long time, the art world was under the impression that any woman who channeled her emotions into her work was hysterical or insane. Men, on the other hand are not labelled such. They are otherwise seen as melancholy. Frida came along and destroyed that notion. She made it acceptable for women to show their emotions through their works, she made it okay for them to be vulnerable and to be treated the same way as men when these vulnerabilities show in their works. By remaining true to her art style, she brought liberation to a lot of women in the art world.
