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home > frida! > Frida Kahlo, About Her WorkFrida Kahlo, About Her Work
From about 1925 (when Frida began to paint) to about 1932, her paintings were mostly portraits of women or children, done with frontal views and earthy color palettes. Although self-taught, she read, studied and committed to memory intensely and easily. She was extremely well versed in the history and painting of the Florentine Renaissance, paintings where the subject is formally posed, with rich, velvet-like backdrops.
In 1932, with her miscarriage at the Henry Ford Hospital, Frida's work moves to images of suffering, portrayed very graphically and with bright colors. The Mexican ratabla, in which one cries out for help to divine powers, or a saint, is a common theme in Mexican painting. But in her paintings, Frida is alone in her suffering and pain and there is no evidence of assistance or help. Being married to Diego, she met famous people from all over the world. She began to wear the Tehuana dress, which was worn by women of the region of Juchitán in Techuantepec. Men in this region tend to be more domestic, and the women dominated the commercial and social life. With their voluminous dresses, the women wanted to demonstrate their solid and strong bodies. The Tehuana dress became a symbol of her new life and appears in many of her paintings. In addition to the Tehuana dress, Frida repeatedly used other symbols, such as dolls, skeletons, the Judas figure, masks, dogs, and monkeys. The symbols of roots and plants come from her study of science and anatomy as she studied at the Prepatoria to be a doctor. With her health failing later in life, Frida painted still life's that continued to reflect her pain and suffering. Frida Kahlo's work includes over 200 sketches, drawings and paintings. Of the 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits. Much of her work is no larger than 12" x 15". Her work realistically and symbolically reflects her Mexican heritage and customs, the relationships in her life, her physical and emotional pain, and ideals of literature and politics. It was Diego who said: "She paints from her heart." Diary entry, March, 1954:
I have achieved a lot.
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