How did Frida Kahlo influence Surrealism?

Frida Kahlo is often associated with Surrealism due to the dreamlike and symbolic qualities present in her paintings. While she did not identify as a Surrealist, she shared many of their interests in exploring the subconscious mind, incorporating fantastical imagery, and challenging societal norms.

Who is Frida Kahlo? Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter best known for her uncompromising and brilliantly colored self-portraits that deal with such themes as identity, the human body, and death. Although she denied the connection, she is often identified as a Surrealist.

Frida saw fruit and flowers as speakers of a provocative language, revealing things that were hidden. It was also through Rivera that she met André Breton, the father of surrealism and someone who would go on to play a key part in her career.

Surrealist painting was influenced not only by Dadaism but also by the fantastic and grotesque images of such earlier painters as Hieronymus Bosch and Francisco Goya and of closer contemporaries such as Odilon Redon, Giorgio de Chirico, and Marc Chagall.

'Henry Ford Hospital (The Fly Bed)' and 'Diego and I' are the great examples showing elements that resemble the style of surrealism. However, Kahlo herself rejected this label, she claimed that none of her works tell the story of her dreams. Nor are separated from her reality and the hardship she experienced.

Frida Kahlo has become an icon of the people because of her unique personality and her multifaceted life. She has become a standard-bearer for women's inner strength, for a love of Mexico and its culture, and for courage in the face of adversity. Above all, she was a genuine woman who was true to her convictions.

10 Interesting Frida Kahlo Facts

Kahlo was deeply influenced by indigenous Mexican culture, which is apparent in her use of bright colors and dramatic symbolism. She frequently included the symbolic monkey. In Mexican mythology, monkeys are symbols of lust, yet Kahlo portrayed them as tender and protective symbols.

Kahlo surprises the viewer with her visionary power, being the first female artist to rebel against the canons of art in order to explore her psyche, full of symbols and personal stories, which inspired the imaginations of countless artists around the world.

If you're a fan of her colorful work, enjoy the most famous quotes that have ever been associated with Frida Kahlo. "Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?" "I don't paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality."

Surrealism officially began with Dadaist writer André Breton's 1924 Surrealist manifesto, but the movement formed as early as 1917, inspired by the paintings of Giorgio de Chirico, who captured street locations with a hallucinatory quality.

André Breton, born on February 18, 1896 in Tinchebray, France, was a French writer and poet, and recognized as the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of Surrealism.

Founded by the poet André Breton in Paris in 1924, Surrealism was an artistic and literary movement. It proposed that the Enlightenment—the influential 17th- and 18th-century intellectual movement that championed reason and individualism—had suppressed the superior qualities of the irrational, unconscious mind.

Here are some fascinating facts about her life.

Renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was a role model for generations of artists, bisexual women and people with disabilities. Her works were inspired by nature and explored gender, disability, class, post-colonialism and race in Mexican society.

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo were married twice. After their second marriage, they remained together until Kahlo's death in 1954.

5 Interesting Facts about Frida Kahlo

Kahlo, as a painter, was known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. She employed a naïve folk-art style to explore questions of identity, post-colonialism, gender, class and race in Mexican society. Her paintings often had a strong autobiographical element.

Frida Kahlo participated in the "International Exhibition of Surrealism" in 1940 at the Galeria de Arte, Mexicano. There, she exhibited her two largest paintings: The Two Fridas and The Wounded Table (1940).

Discover this renowned female artist through 10 fun anecdotes!

The painting reflects Kahlo's struggle with her own identity, torn between her European heritage and her Mexican roots. The two Fridas are also a representation of the duality that exists within all of us, the struggle between our inner selves and our external personas.

In her diary, just days before her death, Kahlo penned her final entry stating: I hope the exit is joyful - and I hope never to return." Viva la Vida, Watermelons is a bright and vibrant celebration of life in both its simplicity of composition and complexity of emotional expression.

“I am my own muse, I am the subject I know best. The subject I want to better.” This Frida Kahlo quote is a reminder that women should be their own source of inspiration and motivation.

Frida was unable to have children

Whilst Frida desperately hoped to give Rivera a child, sadly after the injuries she suffered in the accident, many pregnancies were medically terminated when doctor's feared her life was at risk.

Salvador Dalí is best known for his unique Surrealistic vision of the world utilizing fantastic symbol to create magnificent artworks. In 1971 he created the “Memories of Surrealism” suite, that includes 12 lithographs.