2. • Considered as one of Mexico’s greatest artists Frida Kahlo was a female painter whose tragic chaotic life
often viewed as more interesting than her art. Although her work was well received during her lifetime
interest quickly faded upon her death in 1954. This all changed in 1983 with the publication of Hayden
Herrera’s biography, entitled Frida which revealed her sorry and anguish to a new audience.
• Herrera’s book reignited the public’s fascination with the distorted account of her life resulting in Frida becoming known
as the ‘heroine of pain.’ To highlight Frida’s pain, I will briefly analyse her self-portrait The Broken Column (1944).
However, there is another aspect to Frida’s art that is often overlooked post 1983. Frida’s self-portraits also declared her
love for Mexico, its people and the Aztec tradition of human sacrifice. Therefore, my aim today is to offer a new
perspective of Frida and her art, as a woman filled with hope by analysing Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and
Hummingbird (1940) using the Biographical and Iconography art history methods.
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3. • The biographical method approaches a work of art in relation to the artist’s life and personality by assuming
any meaning, concepts and execution is determined by the artist. Relying on diaries, letters, data and texts
it emphasises characteristics borne from their childhood to inform us how the artist overcome adversity to
develop their natural gift.
• Kris and Kurtz suggest we also consider a theory they refer to as the ‘the riddle of the artist,’ a mystery and
magic that surrounds an artist from two perspectives. Psychologically, that an artist has special, undefined
traits and dispositions necessary for artistic creation, and sociologically, that certain periods and cultures
have been prepared to bestow a special, if ambiguous place to the creator of a work of art.
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4. • Iconography is described as the science of; identification, description, classification, and interpretation of
symbols, themes, and subject matter in the visual arts. The first known example was produced by Pliny in
(23-79 CE) when he discussed the formal qualities of visual images. Pliny’s method remained unchallenged
until 1939 when art historian Irwin Panofsky proclaimed a painting must also carry meaning.
• Panofsky identified and developed three levels of iconological analysis which enables a viewer to retrieve
the content embedded within a work of art. Although each level has its own method and goal I will utilise
all three as this is necessary to reach full interpretation.
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5. • As a child, Frida had worked in small formats in her father’s photographic studio paying meticulous
attention to the minutest of detail. This acute realism influenced Frida’s intensity of approach to
psychological portraiture and during her career she completed fifty-five self-portraits expressing her own
truth. Each one was displayed in an array of vibrant colours influenced by Mexican culture and European
Art. Her choice of style meant she was often compared with the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, but
Frida dismissed these suggestions by stating;
“I never paint dreams or nightmares,
only my own reality”.
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7. • Frida’s reality is certainly well documented. Aged six she contracted Polio, a disease that left her with a
permanent limp. Aged eighteen she suffered life changing injuries in a tragic bus crash resulting in her
requiring over thirty-five surgeries. Perhaps she is most famous known for sharing two turbulent, open
marriages with the celebrated Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. Despite their differences the couple tried for
many years to conceive a child, but the nature of Frida’s injuries caused her to suffer three miscarriages.
Both the accident and her relationship with Diego caused Frida physical and psychological wounds that
would never heal. Frida famously said;
‘There have been two grave accidents in my life. One was the
bus crash, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the
worst.’
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8. • It was during her nine-month convalescence after the bus crash that Frida first began to paint and both
accidents became recurring subjects for her artistic expression.
• In The Broken Column (1944) her semi-naked body and bare open torso allude to her vulnerability and
longing for Diego who often left her bedside to conduct his numerous infidelities. The broken column
represents her fractured spine; her tears illustrate her emotional pain while dozens of nails piercing her skin
depict the physical. The cracked barren landscape symbolises the isolation she suffers inside her broken
body and is also viewed as a reference to her longing for a child. The cracked barren landscape symbolises
the isolation she suffers inside her broken body and is also viewed as a reference to her longing for a child.
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9. Frida Kahlo
The Broken Column (1944)
Oil, Masonite
33 cm x 43 cm
Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino, México City, México.
‘Waiting with anguish, hidden away, the
broken column and the immense glance,
footless through the vast path, carrying on
my life in steel, if only I had his caresses
upon me’
Frida Kahlo (1944)
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10. • Psychologically Frida’s self-portraits are stark portrayals of her illnesses, tragedies and marriages. Doctor
Salomon Grimberg, a child psychologist decoded Frida’s diary and concluded she associated pain with love,
which she then illustrated in her paintings cultivating a self-image as a ‘heroic sufferer.’ Grimberg’s findings
support Kris and Kurtz’s claim that psychologically an artist must suffer to experience the deep emotions
that infuse their art.
• Frida’s diary revealed she was born in 1907 to parents of German and Mexican Indian descent, but she later
changed her birth year to 1910, the year of the Mexican Revolution. She also dropped the e from Frida to
distance herself from her German roots. Both gestures along with her support for the Mexican Communist
Party endeared her to the Mexican people. Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird was
completed in 1940 the year after her divorce from Diego and many of the psychological and sociological
elements of her life are represented by symbols
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11. Symbols
Frida Kahlo
Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940)
Oil on canvas
61.25 cm x 47 cm
Harry Ransom Centre, Texas, United States of America.
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12. • I will now apply Panofsky’s method to retrieve their hidden meaning
• The first level of Panofsky’s method is known as pre-iconographic analysis and assumes the viewer can
describe and recognise what they observe without any cultural or art historical knowledge. On that basis, I
can inform you this painting exhibits a black cat, a figure with an adornment around their neck, some green
leaves, a black bird, some insects and a black monkey.
• The second level is known as iconographic analysis and assumes the viewer recognises the image as a
character, part of a story or a well-known public figure and has some knowledge of themes, subjects and
literary sources concerning the artist. This allows the viewer to begin an iconological investigation into the
painting, the person and the symbols.
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13. • Since 1983 Frida has been the source of hundreds of publications, a Hollywood film and numerous
blockbuster exhibitions. Frida’s exaggerated unibrow and facial hair promoting Mexicanidad have also been
the subject of much discussion. The still, direct emotionless gaze and central composition also appears in
many of her self-portraits, therefore, the figure can be identified as a representation of Frida Kahlo.
• Frida, had studied medicine, social sciences and botany and she often included Flora and Fauna in her
portraits. Here she has enclosed herself in lush green foliage informing us of her love and knowledge of
plants. In Mexican mythology, monkeys are symbols of lust and evil. The one we see here tugging and
unravelling her necklace is thought to represent her continued lust for Diego especially as documents
confirm they were remarried later that year.
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14. • Black cats usually represent bad luck and death so the inclusion of one here could be a foreboding to some
unfortunate event, maybe for the blackbird. In Mexican culture hummingbirds are viewed as a symbol of
good luck but are usually portrayed as colourful creatures flying amongst flowers. The fact this one is dead
is another reference to Frida’s psychological pain.
• In a direct reference to Jesus Christ and her religious beliefs Frida portrayed herself with an elongated neck
adorned with a necklace of thorns. Her face is calm and solemn, whereas the trickles of blood juxtaposed
alongside her white dress confirms she is in pain and furthermore that she views herself as a martyr. Lastly,
the butterflies symbolise her hope for a new start.
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15. • I should mention here that Panofsky’s theory was initially introduced to
decipher Renaissance Art, a fact which has led some critics to argue his
method can lead to over interpretation. Therefore, before a viewer progresses
to the third and final stage Roelof Van Straten suggests they should first
examine any sources the artist may have consulted to produce the painting.
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16. • Frida was greatly influenced by the Mexican Muralist Movement whose Aztec imagery articulated Mexico’s
cultural identity and historical heritage in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution. One notable figure that
reoccurred was the fearful Aztec Goddess Coatlicue who wore the hands, hearts and skulls of her victims
around her neck. Coatlicue was supposedly beheaded and sacrificed during her creation therefore to the
Mexican people she represents both life and death.
• Frida was also inspired by a popular Mexican art form known as retablos, which are small religious paintings
depicting a vertical image of Christ or the Virgin Mary surrounded by an elaborate framework of flowers,
plants and symbols. Retablos were usually offered to a sacred being as a plea for help or as an expression of
gratitude for a person or nation’s recovery from illness or disaster. Frida owned over 2000 of them including
several depicting the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico whose church was supposedly built
upon the sacred ground where Coatlicue’s temple also once stood.
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17. Isidro Escamilla
Virgin of Guadalupe (1824)
Oil on canvas
58.1cm x 38.1cm
Brooklyn Museum, United States of America
Coatlicue (Circa 1500)
8.9 feet High
National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City.
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18. • Lastly, Frida owned several books on Aztec culture including an illustrated plant book dated 1552 which
provided her with first-hand descriptions of the plants used by the Aztecs. These three pieces of evidence
inform us that Frida’s Self-Portrait probably contains a deeper secondary meaning. We can now move on to
the final stage known as Iconological analysis.
• We can now recognise that the paintings small size and elaborate style resembles a religious retablo. Frida has
deliberately portrayed herself as a vertical image, in a central composition shrouded by an elaborate framework of
symbols, animals and Aztec Mexican Foliage. She does not portray herself as the complete form of the deity Coatlicue but
references Coatlicue’s severed neck and the Aztec tradition of human sacrifice with her spilled blood and the thorn
necklace.
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19. Frida Kahlo
Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940)
Oil on canvas
61.25 cm x 47 cm
Harry Ransom Centre, Texas, United States of America.
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20. • In Mexican culture the dead hummingbird is regarded as a sacred Aztec symbol of the God of Sun and War,
who was also Coatlicue’s son. Frida often blamed herself for her inability to have a child and viewed her
body as both the womb and grave therefore the dead hummingbird represents her lost children.
• I have previously mentioned the painting was completed in 1940, a year after her divorce from Diego. I can
also inform you 1940 is also the year regarded by the Mexican people as the end of the social revolution.
This evidence suggests Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird is a retablo and should be
viewed as an expression of Frida’s gratitude for the end of her own and Mexico’s suffering. Furthermore, it
reveals to us she views herself as a sacred symbol of Mexico and is comparing herself with the Aztec
Goddess Coatlicue and the Virgin of Guadalupe. This is confirmed with the inclusion of the butterflies
whose presence informs us Frida and Mexico will be resurrected in the form of her own transformation.
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21. Conclusion:
• Sociologically Frida’s devotion for portraying indigenous Mexican themes elevated her status as a living
cultural icon for the Mexican people. Thus, confirming Kris and Kurt’s point that certain periods and cultures
can offer a special if ambiguous place to the creator of a work of art.
• My aim was to offer a new perspective of Frida Kahlo and her art using the biographical and iconography art
history methods. Both methods can be applied independently but I have demonstrated they complement
each other by stripping away the layers of an artist to reveal the hidden meaning within their work.
• A limitation of the biographical method is it tends to omit uncomfortable details that could expose an artist as complex
and flawed especially female ones who the public like to see as saints or victims. Kris and Kurtz’s theory enabled me to
uncover some of the broader emotional and cultural issues that surround Frida and her work.
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22. • A criticism of the iconography method is it can detract a viewer from enjoying the formal qualities of an
image, but my analysis has revealed Panofsky’s first level can be applied independently to view a work of
art solely for its aesthetic values.
• Frida’s distinctive iconography of suffering transcended self-pity to create an existential art within a
framework that promoted her devotion to Mexico, its people and their Aztec heritage We can dispute
whether a symbol was intended to be symbolic, but we cannot dispute an image is there by chance, every
symbol has been carefully chosen by the artist who is in full control of its content. Life is interesting, but
art is what the interesting person produced, and I would like to change the narrative and suggest Frida
Kahlo should be known as the;
‘Heroine of Hope’
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