Frida Kahlo is an iconic figure, yet I'm often surprised when I tell people about my book that they know very little about her. Some have never heard of her. Maybe Beyonce's Halloween costume will bring Frida's image to the surface of popular culture once again. Fridamania reached its zenith in the 1990s, but I think Beyonce's costume signals a shift into a new wave of, what I like to call, Frida love. What people know and do not know about Frida interests me. As a writer, I want to appeal to a large spectrum of readers, from those who know nothing to those who know a lot. I'm asking people to tell me if they've ever heard of Frida Kahlo. If they have, then I'd like to know how they learned about her and what they know about her and her art. For those who are Frida lovers, I'd also like to know what facets of her life and art are inspirational. This is an ongoing project that I will post periodically as I continue to blog about Frida's journey through the United States. The excursion begins on November 10th, the day that Frida set foot in San Francisco. Until then, I want to hear from you. Please click on "comments" and join the conversation. I'm looking forward to it!
58 Comments
Gen
11/3/2014 01:37:10 pm
i have heard of Frida Kahlo, but know nothing of her life or work
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JJ
11/4/2014 12:48:52 am
Before 1998, I had never heard of Frida Kahlo. But then I saw a reproduction of one of her artworks hanging above a fireplace in someone's house, and asked about it. Then in 2002, I saw the movie Frida, when it first came out in theaters. This film incidentally won two Oscars: Best Music, Original Score; and Best Makeup. It was also nominated for four other Oscars: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Costume Design; and Best Music, Original Song.
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Brandon
11/4/2014 03:23:30 am
I have heard of Frida Kahlo a few times, and only know she is a Spanish artist who frequently painted self-portraits of herself in a slightly negative light.
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Daniel
11/4/2014 05:04:54 am
I have heard of Frida Kahlo and am aware of her importance in Mexican Art and Modern Art. The past summer I was fortunate enough to visit her Blue house in Mexico where her and husband Diego Rivera lived. She has a tremendous story and battled personal demons throughout her life, yet was able to create wonderful art.
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Marina
11/4/2014 05:45:47 am
I like to think that I know more about Frida Kahlo than I actually do. I know that she was a rad feminist artist who filled in her unibrow more than it naturally occurred, letting everyone know she didn't care about stereotypical standards of beauty. I also recall her somehow damaging her back but still painting, even self portraits with her brace included.
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LaoRan Zhu
11/4/2014 06:08:55 am
I never hear Frida Kahlo before and I don't know anything about her.
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MENGTING XIE
11/4/2014 08:08:11 am
I know a little about her. After the accident, she used painting to relieve her pain,and drew many paintings about her feelings and imagination for illness.
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Saskia
11/4/2014 08:21:19 am
I personally have heard the name of Frida Kahlo, but I never really know about her works of art yet i really want to know more. All I know is that she was a painter who was originally from Mexico City, Mexico. She married a Mexican painter, Diego Rivera. She once survived a bus accident and is still now recognized as one of mexico's greatest artists and a feminist icon.
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Zachary Curliano
11/4/2014 09:06:35 am
I remember hearing about Frida Kahlo in a middle school art class. I don't remember much except that she was a Spanish artist who did very emotional paintings.
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Zishu Zhou
11/4/2014 09:11:57 am
I have heard a little about Frida Kahlo. She was a painter who was from Mexico.She was injured by a car accident when she was young.In this accident, her right leg was disabled.I think she was a independent women who pursued freedom in her whole life.
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Lichao
11/4/2014 09:12:04 am
This is my first time hearing about Frida Kahlo, however, I would like to spend some time looking in to it. Also, I will attend the art talk on this Thursday and I'm looking forward to learn more about her.
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Mauree Barrientos
11/4/2014 10:22:50 am
I learned about Frida from a high school art teacher and from the Salma Hayek film. She is a strong voice for the feminist movement as well as communism. I know she dealt with a lot of emotional and physical pain from an accident in childhood that left her unable to bear children. I remember sexuality and motherhood are themes in a lot of her work.
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Dallas Deza
11/4/2014 11:05:03 am
I have never heard of Frida before you mentioned her in class, however I know a bit about her presence in Mexican Art Culture. I look forward to learning more about her at the art presentation this Thursday and throughout my Art Appreciation course.
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Kat
11/4/2014 01:14:52 pm
Before, I had not known who Frida Kahlo was. Recently, I found out that she is a very influential artist who often focused on self portraits. I would like to learn more about her and her intentions for entering the art world.
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Anna
11/4/2014 01:49:57 pm
I have heard the of Frida Kahlo before and know she is an influential artist. Otherwise I know nothing about her.
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Harrison
11/4/2014 02:20:44 pm
I know of Frida Kahlo, but I'm not exactly sure where I heard of her. They're some works of art that can quickly be identified as being by her, but I don't know what they're called. I solely recognize them as I see them.
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Jiayin Sun
11/4/2014 02:26:18 pm
I never heard of her before, but i did some research of her. Artist Frida Kahlo considered one of Mexico's greatest artists, Frida Kahlo began painting after she was severely injured in a bus accident. Kahlo later became politically active and married fellow communist artist Diego Rivera in 1929. She exhibited her paintings in Paris and Mexico before her death in 1954.She painted using vibrant colors in a style that was influenced by indigenous cultures of Mexico as well as by European influences that include Realism, Symbolism, and Surrealism. Many of her works are self-portraits that symbolically express her own pain and sexuality.
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Hsuehwei Tsai
11/4/2014 04:07:43 pm
I have never heard of Frida Kahlo, but I research her name on wikipedia and find out she is a Mexican artist who was born and lived with many health problems.
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YU ZHANG
11/4/2014 04:19:11 pm
I've never heard of Frida Kahlo before, but from wikipedia, I know she is a Mexican painter, who is best known for her self-portrait. Her work was described as surrealist, which we talked about in last class. However, she rejected the 'surrealist', and she thought her work reflected more reality than dream. In her work, she always mixed American culture and Mexican culture to feature her work. About her life, she suffered an accident, which caused her leg unhealthy. Unfortunately, this accident still influenced her work even after recovering from injuries, because the sufferings caused her isolated from other people. So finally the isolation led her self-portrait became famous over the world.
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Jeanette Lising
11/5/2014 12:26:28 am
I have not heard about Friday Kahlo or even the name at all until taking an art appreciation. I look forward to hearing and learning more about her as an artist at your talk on Thursday.
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Jeanette Lising
11/5/2014 12:28:35 am
Actually, now that I think about it, I have seen a self portrait of hers replicated by one of my friends at school in her painting class. However, I did not know that was Frida Kahlo until I went on this website and saw a picture of her.
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aliandra
11/5/2014 03:13:56 am
I have heard of Frida Kahlo and seen some of her work, but don't know much about it.
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mingwei Li
11/5/2014 03:16:32 am
Actually, before the class, I had no idea who is Frida Kahlo. However, after I read some websites that introduced her I was shocked by her life experience. I am very interested in how she composed each of her painting,and what she was thinking during her work.
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Ali Williams
11/5/2014 03:23:24 am
I am familiar with Frida Kahlo and some of her work, but I don't know much about her other than that she is an iconic Mexican and modern artist. I do have a print of her husband's, Diego Rivera, the Flower Carrier in my home though!
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Kathie
11/5/2014 04:27:24 am
Before this class, I learned about Frida Kahlo and her work in my high school Spanish class. I know that she is very well known for her self-portraits, and that her husband, Diego Rivera, is a painter as well. Besides knowing about her self-portraits, I also know that she got into a bus accident that left her severely injured, resulting in her not being able to walk for awhile and not being able to have children as well. I also watched a film about her life, which starred Salma Hayek as Frida.
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Madison
11/5/2014 04:40:43 am
I have heard about Frida Kahlo before but all I know is that she is a Mexican artist.
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Shayne
11/5/2014 05:03:56 am
Prior to this class, I was slightly informed about Frida Kahlo's personal life and how it influenced her art. I was aware of how the feminist movement of the 1970s led to renewed interest in her life and work, and that this considered her one of the most important feminist icons of all times. In studying some of Frida Kahlo's work I came to recognize that her paintings deeply reflect her life and tell her personal stories. We see many of her personal battles and inner conflicts being painted on a canvas for the world to see. I noticed that she never considered herself a surrealist painter, yet in some of her work she incorporated more graphic and surrealist elements. I am also aware that Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist, having numerous exhibits all over the world, and was friends with many different famous artists such as Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp. I read about the ups and downs with her marriage with Diego Rivera, and how they both were not always faithfully committed. Lastly, I knew about her numerous accidents and injuries that led her to a state of depression. With contracting polio, the serious bus accident, the numerous miscarriages, and amputating the bottom half of her leg, we become aware to the fact that these obstacles sent her in a downward spiral, physically and emotionally. I do believe that these accidents have a lot to do with her art, and the way she views herself. Overall, I have learned that Frida Kahlo is a very strong, independent thinker and woman, that dealt with many personal battles throughout her life.
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Jessica
11/5/2014 05:27:18 am
I went to a bilingual elementary school where I learned Spanish and English. My school used art a lot in their curriculum. Therefore, we learned about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and though it has been a long time, I still remember some facts about Frida Kahlo. I know she was famous for her self-portraits and that she was very much influenced by her husband Diego Rivera, and also Mexican culture post-Revolution. She tried to incorporate Mexico's culture into her paintings. I think she also had polio or some kind of disability that affected her spine and legs, which is why she wore big, long skirts, to conceal that.
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Domo
11/5/2014 05:33:05 am
I first learned about Frida Kahlo when I was taking Spanish Language classes in high school, so it was a while ago. From what I remember, her art had a lot of taboo subjects like miscarriage and gender inequalities. A lot of her paintings were self portraits and they were always looking at you.
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Lauren Burge
11/5/2014 06:04:44 am
Prior to taking this course I did not know a lot about Frida Kahlo. Every time I saw her face or one of her paintings I knew who this woman was but never knew her entire life story. After a little research I found that Frida Kahlo is an extraordinary painter who spent her life in Mexico City. Her most famous work are self-portraits. In these self portraits she did not strive to make herself look more than she was. She emphasized her natural beauty such as her overdrawn eyebrows. Because of her encouragement and beliefs she is also identified as a feminist. Later on in her life she married a famous painter named Diego Rivera.
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Haosheng
11/5/2014 06:09:56 am
I saw the term and image before. Some writers referring her. Some people wear like her. But I do not know Frida.
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Shannon
11/5/2014 07:20:46 am
I have heard about Frida Kahlo many times. My hometown Los Angeles has a very strong Mexican population. I know that she was a Mexican painter and painted many self portraits. She stayed true to her image. She was injured in an accident at a young age. She was married to Diego Rivera who was also a Mexican painter. He painted many scenes of Mexican daily life.
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Lauren
11/5/2014 07:26:03 am
I have heard of Frida Kahlo but I do not know that much about her work, except that some of her paintings used very vivid color.
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Yelin Zhou
11/5/2014 08:02:44 am
I did not know her before. But I always saw her name on the website and knew that she is a famous Mexican artist.
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Darian Lau
11/5/2014 08:34:51 am
I do not know anything about Frida Kahlo and the first time I heard her name was in class and now I know that she is an influential artist. I am looking forward to learning more about Frida Kahlo in class.
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Anastasia
11/5/2014 08:49:39 am
I have never heard of Frida Kahlo before taking this art appreciation class but I am looking forward to learning about her and her artworks.
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Alejandro
11/5/2014 09:08:28 am
I have heard of Frida Kahlo a few times. I know she was a very influential Mexican painter, she had an accident on a bus involving a metal pole going through her...but not much else.
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Caitlin Pirruccello
11/5/2014 09:15:10 am
I have heard of Frida Kahlo a few times, but I have seen pictures of her everywhere! I do know that she is best know for her self-portraits, and that Feminists celebrate her intriguing look. I can't wait to learn more!
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Crisella
11/5/2014 09:38:39 am
I do not know about Frida Kahlo's history or much about her work, but I do know what she looks like and have seen some of her self portraits before.
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Kevyn Rothbard
11/5/2014 09:38:55 am
I have heard of Frida Kahlo many times. I actually read a whole passage about the hyper sexualization of her in mainstream media in my Sociology class. I know that she was a woman of many talents, poetry and art being a few. My roommate actually has a book that is her published journal.
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chenling
11/5/2014 10:24:52 am
I never heard about Frida Kahlo before. but i interested in know her after class. So i did some research of Kahlo. She is a Mexican painter, and Mexican culture and Amerindian cultural tradition are important in her work.
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Sage
11/5/2014 10:37:13 am
I know Freida Kahlo from the art world, I believe she has a Spanish heritage. She is infamous for having a unibrow as well. I believe her husband was an artist as well.
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Juliena Tran
11/5/2014 11:58:14 am
I do not know much about Frida Kahlo. What I do know is that she is a very iconic Mexican painter and Beyonce dressed up as her on Halloween. Also she has a unibrow.
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John
11/5/2014 02:06:09 pm
I know very little about Frida Kahlo historically except that she and her husband Diego Rivera were both prominent Mexican artists in the last century, but I do have some familiarity with a few of her many self-portraits. As I write this I'm reminded of a quotation by the author James Joyce who, while discussing Ulysses, once said, "For myself, I always write about Dublin, because if I can get to the heart of Dublin I can get to the heart of all the cities of the world. In the particular is contained the universal." From what I've seen of her work, it's clear that she had an intimate grasp of human psychology and took great pains to show what it's like to be her. In doing that, she also got at something deeper about what it's like to be human and alive.
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Max
11/6/2014 05:59:02 am
I have heard of Frida Kahlo referred to as a Mexican artist from the 20th century.
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TongZheng Chen
11/6/2014 11:34:10 am
I have never heard of Frida Kahlo, but my friend jack told me she is best known for her self-portraits. and she life began and ended in Mexico City.
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Shurong Li
11/6/2014 01:34:30 pm
I never heard about Frida Kahlo before. But, after reading, I think she was a interested Mexican Painter,
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Eliel Gordon
11/9/2014 02:14:57 am
I heard about her art from a friend.
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Yihan Li
11/9/2014 11:23:09 am
I never heard of this artist before, but I think she is a great woman.
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Vikash Loomba
11/9/2014 11:39:51 am
I have never heard of Frida Kahlo.
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Jialing Mi
11/9/2014 02:27:43 pm
i have never heard about this women before, but i am interesting about her after i heard about your speach
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Chung-Chih, Lai
11/9/2014 02:29:42 pm
I never heard about Frida Kahlo before. I want to know more about her.
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Riya Kishnani
11/10/2014 10:38:09 am
I have heard of Frida Kahlo before but I don't know anything about her. I just remember hearing her name a couple of times.
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Iku
11/11/2014 02:06:02 pm
I think I have heard of Frida Kahlo, but know nothing of her life or work.
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Eric
11/11/2014 04:40:19 pm
I do not know many details about Frida Kahlo, but I have definitely heard of her and seen her art growing up in my art classes. I am slightly familiar about her self portraits (particularly the one with the monkey over her shoulder) and I am fascinated by how she depicts herself. She embraces her unibrow and mustache, which makes her and her artwork very unique and different!
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Clarissa G.
11/17/2014 02:47:47 am
I remember learning about Frida Kahlo in my Spanish class even though we tended to focus more on her relationship with Diego Rivera and his paintings instead of hers. I am fascinated with her work, since it seems to have more personal emotion compared to Diego's where he seems to capture the emotion of nations and cultures.
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Ricardo
11/17/2014 05:28:46 am
Frida Kahlo. As soon as I hear that name I think of a unibrow and feminism. I mean a lot of other things come to mind, like Diego Rivera, and Mexico, and latin pride. I also think about the fact that she was on the cover of Vogue, which is pretty intense for a latin woman at that time. After hearing Dr. Stahr's presentation I am aware that Frida spent some time in San Francisco, which is pretty cool for me because I am a San Francisco native, and that makes it special in some way. The fact that my hometown had some influence on a famous artists leaves a lasting impression. She is famous for her self-portraits, and hey, if you can paint yourself with such grace than by all means, I would too.
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Brandon Anthony
11/17/2014 11:09:06 am
I've only heard of Frida Kahlo's name several times during my high school years. Little did I know that she lived in San Francisco during her lifetime. Looking at her most of her artwork makes me think of how she embraces her unibrow.
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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.
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