Frida Kahlo
A bus accident at 18 ended her medical plans; she began painting in bed with a mirror overhead.
- Born
- 1907 · Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico
- Roots
- Mexican; German immigrant father, mestiza mother
- Family
- Middle class
- Photographer father who emigrated from Germany; the family home was Casa Azul, later her museum.
- Education
- National Preparatory School (pre-medical track, cut short by the accident)
- Started with
- A body cast
- Began painting while immobilized after the accident, with a mirror mounted over her bed.
- Affiliations & societies
- Mexican Communist PartyDocumented
- Joined in 1927; her politics remained central to her life and work.
- Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.
The pathway
- 1913 · age 6Polio
Leaves her right leg permanently weakened.
- 1925 · age 18The bus accident
A streetcar collision breaks her spine and pelvis; she paints in bed using a mirror mounted above her.
- 1929 · age 22Marries Diego Rivera
The muralist, twenty years her senior; a famously turbulent marriage.
- 1938 · age 31First solo show, New York
About half the paintings sell.
- 1939 · age 32The Louvre buys The Frame
Reported as its first acquisition by a 20th-century Mexican artist.
- 1953 · age 46First solo show in Mexico
Arrives at the opening in her four-poster bed, on doctor's orders.
- 1954 · age 47Dies at Casa Azul
Global recognition comes largely after her death.
Sources
Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.