Art Section III: Self-Portrait on the Borderline between Mexico and the United States

What does Self-Portrait on the Borderline reflect on?

The time Frida Kahlo spent living in the US

What languages did Kahlo speak?

Spanish, English, and German

What kind of household did Kahlo grow up in?

A household that prized education and the arts

What ideas do Kahlo's images of travel reflect on?

Ideas of nation and homeland, self-image and identity

When and where was Frida Kahlo born?

1907 in Mexico City

Who were the ancestors of Kahlo's mother?

Indigenous Indians and Spanish settlers

What was Kahlo's father's family background?

He was from a German Jewish family

What historical event occurred early in Kahlo's life?

The Mexican Revolution in 1910

What were the goals of the Mexican Revolution?

Turn Mexico into a republic and abolish systems of landownership that mostly benefitted people of European descent

What other reforms did the Revolution seek to enact?

Legal protections for workers and establishing rights for Mexico's Indigenous populations

What was created in 1917?

A new constitution that included many reforms the Revolution fought for

When did the civil war in Mexico end?

1920

What topics did Kahlo explore in her paintings?

Mestizaje and indigenismo

What is mestizaje?

The experience of being a mixed-race person

What is indigenismo?

The new Mexican interest in Indigenous life and heritage

Where did Kahlo study in her teens?

National Preparatory School

What group did Kahlo join as a teen?

A radical group that supported the revolution's goal of a modern Mexico

What did Kahlo want to paint?

Something useful to the revolutionary movement

What obscured the political potential of Kahlo's art?

Layers of dreamlike imagery and personal symbolism

What happened to Kahlo when she was 18?

A bus she was on was struck by a street trolly, damaging her spine, pelvis, and right leg

What disease had Kahlo survived as a child?

Polio

What health issues did Kahlo have due to the bus accident?

Chronic pain and limited mobility

When did Kahlo start painting?

During the long recovery period from the accident

What did Kahlo's trauma inspire?

Many self-portraits where she represented her body as fragile and vulnerable

What artistic training did Kahlo have?

She was self-trained

What were some sources of inspiration for Kahlo?

Ancient Mexican cultures, 17th and 18th century paintings from the colonial era, Mexican folk art, and avant-garde painters from Mexico and Europe

What is widely appreciated about Kahlo?

Her unconventional beauty and flair for fashionable ensembles

What did Kahlo often investigate?

Complex Mexican and Pan-American identities

Why was Mexico City significant after the Mexican Revolution?

It was an important site of artistic innovation

Why did many European and American artists, writers, and photographers come to Mexico?

They wanted to be inspired by the revival of interest in pre-Columbian histories

Who were some painters who came to Mexico?

Josef Albers and Marsden Hartley

Who were some photographers who came to Mexico?

Edward Weston, Tina Modotti, and Robert Capa

Who were some writers who came to Mexico?

D.H. Lawrence and André Breton

What caused the re-orientation of Mexican art in the 1920s and 1930s?

The interactions between European/American artists and Mexican artists

What did artists combine during the re-orientation of Mexican art?

Styles associated with European modernism and influences from the deep past

Who were the "big three" of Mexican muralism?

José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Diego Rivera

What did Mexican muralism focus on?

Indigenous heritage and narratives

What kinds of images did Kahlo paint?

Small, intimate images

What did Kahlo often paint on and what tradition was it related to?

Tin, which was reminiscent of Mexican traditions of painting scrap metal to make retablos

What are retablos?

Small religious images or altarpieces made for personal or household devotional use

What are the dimensions of Self-Portrait on the Borderline?

12 by 14 inches

What does the painting show?

Kahlo standing between two landscapes

What country does the left landscape show?

Mexico

What does the right landscape show?

The automobile manufacturing powerhouse of Michigan

What kind of clothes was Kahlo often shown wearing in her self-portraits?

Tehuana dress

What does Kahlo wear in Self-Portrait on the Borderline?

A modern pink party dress

What clearly makes Kahlo a twentieth-century woman?

Her dress and the fact that she is smoking a cigarette

How did Kahlo often portray herself?

Split between her Indigenous and European roots

What represents the Mexican past?

An Aztec temple and Olmec ceramic figurines

What do the colorful flowers represent?

A new flourishing of ancient traditions

What condition is the pyramid in?

It is dilapidated but still standing

What oversees the pyramid?

Sun and moon deities

What is the side representing the US like?

Machinelike, repetitive, and shows progress without any ties to deep human narratives

What descends into the earth on the US side?

Power cords

What references the Ford Motor Company?

Smokestacks with the word "FORD"

What flag does Kahlo hold?

A Mexican flag

How long was Kahlo married to Diego Rivera?

24 years

What problem did Kahlo and Rivera's relationship have?

Rivera's infidelity

When did the two divorce?

1939

What did the pair do in the early 1930s?

They spent 2 years living and working abroad

What cities did Kahlo and Rivera live in?

Detroit, New York, and San Francisco

Which of Kahlo's paintings reflects on her experiences in the US?

My Dress Hangs There (1933)

Where was Self-Portrait on the Borderline painted?

Detroit

What did Henry Ford hire Rivera to do?

Paint murals in the Detroit Institute of Arts

What name was Rivera's murals later given?

Detroit Industry (1932-33)

What do Rivera's murals depict?

Automotive production alongside Columbian deities

How did Kahlo feel while in Michigan?

Emotionally and culturally isolated

What name did Kahlo use when signing Self-Portrait on the Borderline and why?

Carmen Rivera, to show that she was traveling on Rivera's business

What did travelling allow Kahlo to do?

See the value of her own culture more clearly

How did Kahlo choose to represent herself in Self-Portrait on the Borderline?

As a Mexican patriot

According to Lucy Havard, how did Kahlo feel upon returning from the US?

More passionate than ever to promote mexicanidad in her homeland

What is mexicanidad?

Mexican identity

What do the intertwined roots and power cords symbolize?

A symbiotic relationship between the US and Mexico

What happened to many Mexicans when the US-Mexico border was fixed?

They were left in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California

What could Self-Portrait on the Borderline represent?

Pan-American unity

What painful events happened to Kahlo during her time in Michigan?

A miscarriage and the death of her mother

Which of Kahlo's paintings represented her miscarriage?

Henry Ford Hospital (1932)

How did Kahlo's works change following the tragedies she suffered?

They became more layered and their range of references became more eclectic and culturally diverse

Where and when did Kahlo have her first solo show?

New York City in 1938

When did Kahlo have her first solo exhibition in Mexico?

1953

What happened to Kahlo's health in the late 1940s?

Her chronic pain became worse

What medical procedures did Kahlo undergo?

Several unsuccessful spine surgeries

When did Kahlo's health dramatically decline?

After 1950

When did Kahlo die and how old was she?

1954 at the age of 47

How impact did posthumous recognition have on Kahlo's legacy?

It made her one of the most recognizable and famous artists in history