Frida Kahlo: The Two Fridas and Self-Portrait on the Borderline

Frida Kahlo: Background

• Born in 1907, Mexico City
• German dad and Mexican mother
• Married Diego Rivera; divorced in 1939
• Health issues: bus accident at 18; polio; childbirth-related health issues

The Two Fridas (1939)

• Themes & Meaning:
  • Juxtaposition of her resilient, cultural/traditional self and her European-influenced self in turmoil
  • Represents her dual identity and inner struggle
  • Blood vessels connect her two hearts, symbolising emotional pain and loneliness
  • Inner struggle between her cultural and European selves
• Context:
  • Painted shortly after her divorce in 1939
• Medium & Style:
  • Oil paint
  • Structural and cultural symbolism

Self-portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States (1932)

• Medium: Oil painting
• Stands on the border in cultural clothing holding a Mexican flag in one hand and a cigarette in the other
• Signifies her internal struggle between her 2 lives
• Background: Juxtaposition between the temple and artifacts and the factory and smoke
• Mexico's side symbolizes her homesickness
• Postmodern Frame of Industrialization