Frida Kahlo's My Birth, 1932, 12 x 14," oil on copper, collection of Madonna. If Henry Ford Hospital is a powerful painting, then My Birth is shocking! Can you think of another image of a woman giving birth in the history of Western art? Of course, Frida's painting depicts more than a birth scene. It's a complicated image that, like Henry Ford Hospital, intertwines life and death. In this stark bedroom, the Virgin of Sorrows--Mater Dolorosa--presides over the birth/death.
After Frida suffered a miscarriage in July, she received a telegram from home stating that her mother was very ill. In early September, Frida boarded a Detroit train and headed toward Mexico City. She got there just before her mother died of breast cancer. It must have been devastating. After staying in Mexico for about a month, Frida returned to Diego in Detroit and it's at this time that she created My Birth. Once we grasp the full force of Frida's emotional turmoil, we begin to understand that this painting was not created to shock people; rather it was made to visually communicate all the levels of heartbreak surrounding the death of loved ones. As I grapple with my own complex emotions of grief after my father's death, I'm very aware of how challenging it is to find the right words or images to convey what I'm feeling. Frida did it. She found the perfect multileveled image to transmit the convoluted and unbearable feelings of grief. Most people don't want to talk about the intensity of the grieving process. This is why I was especially moved and impressed by Joseph Biden's honest discussion of his grief on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. While some people may have felt uncomfortable listening to the vice president break down while baring his soul, we live in a time when the "tell-all" memoir and "reality tv" are the norm. However, Frida did not. This helps explain why her painting is still considered shocking. The shock value appealed to Madonna who purchased it in the 1990s. As the owner of My Birth, Madonna has only loaned her prized possession to one museum exhibition (as far as I know). Mark Rosenthal, the adjunct curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts, tried to persuade her to loan it for the recent Diego and Frida in Detroit exhibition, but Madonna said: "No." Rosenthal commented in a newspaper article: "You have no idea what we went through. But I can't describe all that." It's easy to vilify Madonna. After all, it would be wonderful if more people could see this iconic painting. However, I can't blame the pop star for wanting to protect her jewel. If it was damaged in any way, it would be a great loss for her and the world. © Celia S. Stahr 2015
5 Comments
JJ
11/12/2015 06:22:07 am
Once again, Frida has achieved the goal of every great artist -- transforming her inner state of being into a visual representation. Thank you, Dr. Stahr, for your insightful commentary about Frida's work.
Reply
1/4/2016 11:14:24 pm
I agree, this indeed a very powerful rendition of birthing. I have been looking for Frida Kahlo inspirations for this paper that I am working on and I think that I have found the perfect site. I appreciate the insightful articles and stories that you have here. This will really be helpful, not just for me, but to those who are also doing their research. Kudos.
Reply
8/4/2019 06:41:11 am
Yes, it's an unfurled scroll. This painting has been made, as have others in Frida's oeuvre, such as 'The Suicide of Dorothy Hale' and 'A Few Small Jabs' as part of and comments on the retablo tradition. Retablos are paintings usually placed in churches that detail events in which people feel a saint, or perhaps a version of the Virgin, has intervened to help them. They are often quite gruesome and contain a scroll detailing the event, its donor etc. The absence of words in Kahlo's painting is an ironic comment about how she feels about her birth. A retablo was painted in thanks for her surviving her accident which may have started her going down this road.
Reply
Chloe
11/12/2015 11:22:57 am
I agree that Frida has achieved the goal of every great artist. Her images are powerful and vivid. They stay buried in my mind. Thank you for this fascinating discussion!
Reply
11/26/2015 11:15:45 pm
Hmmm its too much hard time during the birth of a baby. As said that if in such time woman ask about destroy the world then GOD can destroy it. Its very hard time.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Celia Stahr teaches art history at the University of San Francisco. She’s interested in women artists and artists who cross cultural boundaries. She fell in love with the power of Frida Kahlo's art in the 1980s, a feeling that has intensified over the years. Frida in America took 10 years to research and write, but Stahr never lost interest in this fascinating woman and artist.
AuthorCelia Stahr's Archives
October 2022
Categories |