Claire's Art Blog: Inspiration and Influences

I’ve always admired Frida Kahlo’s work, so for this assignment I wanted to investigate which artists influenced her work the most. Diego Rivera, Kahlo’s husband, was one of the biggest motivators and influencers when it came to her art. Rivera was the first person to encourage Kahlo to develop her art career. Another major inspiration for Kahlo was the vibrant culture of Mexico that she often surrounded herself with.

Rivera was born in Guanajuato, Mexico on December 8, 1886. He mostly worked on large, fresco murals and his art helped create the Mexican Mural Movement. Rivera’s art is colorful, larger than life, and often depicts stories. Rivera used simplified figures in his artwork and was greatly influenced by Aztec culture.

In 1927 Kahlo approached Rivera in the Ministry of Public Education while he was working on a mural. She showed him some of her artwork and asked him if he thought she had any talent. He said that she did, and their relationship blossomed from there. Kahlo and Rivera finally married in 1929, but got a divorce in 1939, only to remarry in 1940. Their marriage was extremely volatile and toxic, but I do believe that they did have a strong love for each other.

Kahlo admired Rivera’s work and he impacted her painting style. I do see similarities between Rivera’s and Kahlo’s works, but I prefer Kahlo’s pieces much more. I think that they are more imaginative and provoking. I look at them and want to know what she’s thinking; I want her to let me into her world. For instance, her painting entitled Wounded Deer completely dazzles me. It’s as if she thought of this image while she was dreaming. She paints her face on the body of a deer and has antlers sprouting from the top of her head. The deer is running through the woods with multiple arrows piercing its body. There is blood dripping from the arrows, but her face looks completely unfazed. It’s as if the deer can not feel the pain. I know that Kahlo had gone through many tragedies in her life and that this painting is a depiction of one of those hardships, but I want to go inside her mind and discover what she’s actually thinking. I don’t particularly like the simplistic form that Rivera uses and a lot of his paintings are rooted in history, which I also don’t care for because it doesn’t leave room for the viewer to conjure up their own interpretation of the piece. I do enjoy Rivera’s paintings with the women and white flowers because those are more fantastic.

As I mentioned previously, Kahlo was influenced by Mexican culture. She uses vivid colors and strong symbolism throughout her work, which references the culture she was around. Kahlo’s works often featured a monkey, in Mexican mythology a monkey symbolizes lust, but she used it to represent protection.

I can see how Rivera’s artwork influenced Kahlo’s but I find Kahlo’s work much more appealing and interesting. I think that she understood Rivera’s talent, but decided to build off of it and then create her own style.