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Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907 â€" July 13, 1954) was a Mexican painter. She painted using vibrant colors in a style that was influenced by indigenous cultures of Mexico and European influences including Realism, Symbolism, and Surrealism. Many of her works are self-portraits that symbolically articulate her own pain and sexuality. Kahlo was married to Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.

On September 17, 1925, Kahlo was riding in a bus when the vehicle collided with a trolley car. She suffered serious injuries in the accident, including a broken spinal column, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, eleven fractures in her right leg, a crushed and dislocated right foot, and a dislocated shoulder. An iron handrail pierced her abdomen and her uterus, which seriously damaged her reproductive ability. She would be plagued by relapses of extreme pain for the remainder of her life.

After the accident, Kahlo turned her attention away from the study of medicine to begin a full-time painting career. The accident left her in a great deal of pain while she recovered in a full body cast; she painted to occupy her time during her temporary state of immobilization. Her self-portraits became a dominant part of her life when she was immobile for three months after her accident. Kahlo once said, "I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best."

Color

Kahlo's paintings were rich in bright vibrant colors. In her diary, Frida attempts to explain the meaning of the colors used in her works (info from fridakahlofans.com):

Green good warm light

Magenta Aztec. Old TLAPALI blood of prickly pear, the brightest and oldest

Brown color of mole, leaves becoming earth

Yellow madness, sickness, fear. Part of the sun and of joy

Cobalt Blue electricity and purity love

Black nothing is black - really nothing

Leaf Green leaves, sadness, science, the whole of Germany is this color

Greenish Yellow more madness and mystery…all the ghosts wear clothes of this color, or at least their underclothes

Dark Green color of bad advertisements and good business

Navy Blue distance….also tenderness can also be this blue

Red blood?....well, who knows!

Inspiration

Frida Kahlo Palettes & Patterns from the CL Library

Sources: Wikipedia & fridakahlofans.com (very informative site).

Thanks to tvr for the suggestion.