Frida Kahlo and Surrealism Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Frida Kahlo and Surrealism Movement - Essay Example The essay "Frida Kahlo and Surrealism Movement" states the surrealism movement and Frida Kahlo. Frida unconsciously painted from a surrealist style, though not a disciple or even admirer of surrealism- a result maybe due to her dramatic nature and extreme emotional and physical pain that she suffered. She often experimented with styles, icons and motifs and her work reflected strong sexual overtones, though she had no special explanations for her methods and once said "I put on the canvas whatever comes into my mind." Her paintings often shocked people due to their sexual boldness and exquisite starkness, her ruthless representation of herself in her paintings like ‘My Birth’, ‘What Water Gave Me’ ‘Henry Ford Hospital’ and ‘The Two Fridas’ are emotionally breathtaking. In 1953, when Frida Kahlo had her first and only solo exhibition in Mexico during her lifetime, a local critic wrote: 'It is impossible to separate the life and work of this extraordinary person. Her paintings are her biography.' Frida Kahlo was a passionate, dramatic and clever woman, the product of a Hungarian –Jewish father and a devout Catholic of Spanish-Mexican Indian decent mother. She was closest to her father who shared her interest in art but had a cold relationship with her mother. This potent cultural fusion, plus being surrounded by women (three sisters of her own and two half sisters) and witnessing the Mexican revolution, seems to have had a great hand in shaping Frida’s personality early on.