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collectivehistory: The Broken Column, 1944 by Frida Kahlo Kahlo was 18 years old when she was involved in a horrific traffic accident, in which an iron rod pierced her abdomen, right foot was crushed, and two vertebrae were fractured, as well as a number of other bones, including eleven fractures in her right leg. As she recovered in a full body cast, her mother brought her a small lap easel, and, with a mirror over her bed, began painting self-portraits. This self-portrait embodies many elements that were in Kahlo’s artwork, including the themes of isolation, a broken body, and intense suffering and pain. This painting also embodies another one of Kahlo’s themes, that of two bodies, one of which she is a complete and full bodied woman, and another, reflecting broken insides.  I saw this piece in person yesterday. My 5 year old daughter was with me. She looked at the piece and asked me “is this what she looks like?” She had heard me speak of Frida multiple times in my excitement to see the show. The only response I could think of was “No. This is how she felt.” Frida was always so eloquent at painting how she felt.
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collectivehistory:

The Broken Column, 1944 by Frida Kahlo

Kahlo was 18 years old when she was involved in a horrific traffic accident, in which an iron rod pierced her abdomen, right foot was crushed, and two vertebrae were fractured, as well as a number of other bones, including eleven fractures in her right leg. As she recovered in a full body cast, her mother brought her a small lap easel, and, with a mirror over her bed, began painting self-portraits. This self-portrait embodies many elements that were in Kahlo’s artwork, including the themes of isolation, a broken body, and intense suffering and pain. This painting also embodies another one of Kahlo’s themes, that of two bodies, one of which she is a complete and full bodied woman, and another, reflecting broken insides. 

I saw this piece in person yesterday. My 5 year old daughter was with me. She looked at the piece and asked me “is this what she looks like?” She had heard me speak of Frida multiple times in my excitement to see the show. The only response I could think of was “No. This is how she felt.” Frida was always so eloquent at painting how she felt.

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