May

13

The Power of Frida.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

May 13, 2008 |

Frida Kahlo is one of those artists who, because her work is so autobiographical, always brings to mind a question that’s practically an obsession for me. How important is an artist’s biography to understanding their work? How important should it be? Here are some interesting facts about Frida Kahlo: she was married to the muralist and painter Diego Rivera. She was hit by a trolley when she was eighteen which left her bedridden for months and crippled and in pain for the rest of her life. Diego was a notorious womanizer (and also much older). These are just a few of the facts of her life and, while they provide background for discussing her work, they don’t seem to be necessary to appreciating it. Her work doesn’t lack depth, but it’s often as clear and direct as her gaze from her self-portraits. And, being her favorite subject, her self-portraits are both her most recognizable works and probably her most famous. Knowing that she was in constant pain illuminates the reason behind a self-portrait like The Broken Column, but what’s striking is the power of her stare. It’s almost hostile, as though she’s saying, “You think your life is bad? Try mine.” And yet the exquisiteness of her detail seems to lessen the aggressiveness; there’s a touch of softness in her look. There’s pride, but her self-portraits aren’t egotistical; they’re rather a civil request for empathy.

In a review of a Kahlo exhibit that will be travelling to Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, Sanford Schwartz takes this a step further, saying, “She found a way to show a certain emotion, at once accusatory, nervy, furious, a little adolescent, and, as Fuentes says, funny. She is giving the world the finger…” Yes, that’s another way to look at Kahlo’s work, but Schwartz’s explanation of what retablos are is much more valuable:

Often painted on tin, these pictures show saints, say, performing miracles or the Virgin Mary answering a prayer. Retablos, which go back in date to the eighteenth century, generally present the tiny actors of the scene in rather bare places, and the pleasingly awkward and abstract nature of the pieces is enhanced by the written commentary that is often part of the images, words that describe what is happening in the scene.

Kahlo painted numerous retablos, including The Suicide of Dorothy Hale which is included in the exhibit—and which was not what Ms. Hale’s parents intended when they commissioned the work. Significantly Kahlo chose to paint the suicide, perhaps seeing in Gale a fellow spirit in pain. While Schwartz notes that “the veneration of Kahlo has become far-fetched”, her work is wonderful and very powerful. I’m not sure whether the popularity of her work really represents a kind of “Kahlo Cult”, or whether it’s just that a lot of people happen to like her work. And in the end liking the work may be what matters most.


Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. Ginger M. on May 14, 2008 11:58 pm

    I liked her work before knowing the person. Learning about her condition did make me appreciate her work more. Fridamania may precede or promote the appreciation of her work and I don’t see it as a bad thing. Like you said, “in the end liking the work may be what matters most.”

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind

<< Post Navigation >>

« « Graphic Visions. | Good Scholarship. » »