Draft:Viva la Vida, Watermelons

Viva la Vida, Watermelons
Artist	Frida Kahlo
Year	1954
Medium	Oil on Masonite
Dimensions	w720 x h520 mm (with frame)
Location	Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico

Viva la Vida, Watermelons was Frida Kahlo's last painting before she passed away in 1954. The painting features multiple watermelons in different forms, on one of which has the phrase "Viva la Vida" ("Long Live Life"). With her health on a decline, Kahlo regarded the painting as her final celebration of life, paying tribute to the enduring spirit of existence.

Creation

Throughout her life, Frida Kahlo had undergone multiple medical operations due to an accident in 1925 and subsequent severe conditions. This accident pivoted Kahlo’s previous decision from pursuing medicine to painting, though it also caused her a lifetime of hospitalization. In 1953, her lower right leg was amputated as a result of allegedly unnecessary operations. Due to the frequent operations, Kahlo also suffered from multiple miscarriages. In 1954, Kahlo developed a painkiller addiction and was hospitalized because of her deteriorating health. It was suspected that she also had a suicidal attempt in the same year.

Despite her history of pain and sufferings, Kahlo’s works are vibrant and thematically vibrant. She was a beacon of hope to many people. To Mexican-Americans, women, and the LGTBQ+ community, she was a “political heroine” for her persistent social activism. To people with disabilities, she “offered hope.” During her last months, she wrote in her journal:

"I have achieved a lot.

I will be able to walk

I will be able to paint

I love Diego more

than I love myself.

My will is great

My will remains."

As her condition was draining every drop of life out of her, Frida Kahlo’s spirit remained lively and grateful. Within the 8 days before she passed away, Kahlo made her final touches on her very last painting, Viva la Vida, Watermelons.

Analysis

Due to the very obvious intention Kahlo placed into the painting, most scholars converge on the almost the same interpretation of Viva la Vida, Watermelons: “The painting both welcomes death and defies it with alegria [happiness].”

Symbolism

The main subjects of the painting are watermelons. In Mexican culture, watermelons symbolize fertility and immortality. It also relates to the Mexican Day of the Dead and has the same color scheme as the Mexican flag (red, white, and green). The different cuts of the watermelons not only represents Kahlo’s disability, but it also insinuates that she was opening herself up, displaying the “vibrant, fresh, and sweet” sides of her. By capturing the still image of fresh watermelons, Kahlo framed her “unstoppable spirit” as the final mark in history. In a way, the watermelon imagery speaks on Kahlo’s immortal legacy to her supporters and those who empathize with her struggles, particularly with disabilities, chronic pain, and emotional instability. The painting serves as a powerful emblem of strength and defiance. Kahlo's confrontation and expression of her innermost feelings through art touches the individuals facing similar struggles, fostering a sense of connection and empowerment.

Contextualization

A repeated composition across Frida Kahlo’s body of work is how it mimics the styles of retablos and ex-votos–art created to depict religious figures and the miracles they performed. These artworks tend to be painted on metal or wood. Different from traditional iconography, Kahlo prominently featured herself as the central figure in her paintings, transforming them into personal narratives that portray the vicissitudes of her life. Her collection of paintings serve as a public journal that documents Kahlo’s journey with intimacy and authenticity.

Alike her past styles, Frida Kahlo painted Viva la Vida, Watermelons on Masonite, a type of engineered wood, posing it as her very last entry in her “public journal.” However, this painting stands out among Frida Kahlo's body of work as one that deviates from her typical subjects, as it does not feature herself or incorporate her image. Nonetheless, the painting visualizes her emotions and contemplations toward the end of her life, exclaiming “Long Live Life.” By relinquishing the spotlight to a symbolic object, Kahlo underlined that this painting represents more than just her current state of mind, and that it encapsulates her vibrant essence and appreciation of life’s beauty.

Viva la Vida, Watermelons was not her only painting featuring watermelons and the phrase “Viva la Vida.” Most notably, the painting Still Life (1953-54) also has the fruit at the center and the phrase written on a Mexican flag. However, different from her last painting, Kahlo painted a dove next to the watermelon, showing her nationalism and advocacy for peace in the beginning of the Cold War.

Psychoanalysis

In 2004, Marlene Goldsmith wrote an article psychoanalytically dissecting the mental state of Frida Kahlo throughout her life. The author shed light on Kahlo’s experience with abjection, resulting from decades of physical and psychological turmoil. Goldsmith also discussed how Kahlo’s creative impulse was intertwined with her inner conflicts and a quest for meaning amidst her adversity.

Abjection involves the feelings of being rejected from society and cast off. In the case of Frida Kahlo, her damaged physical state after the 1925 accident marked the beginning of her decades-long of abjection. The physical pain gradually seeped into her mind and took the form of “psychic deadness.” Kahlo’s creative inspiration stemmed from her battle and determination to overcome these mental challenges. Through Viva la Vida, Watermelons, Kahlo’s use of vibrant colors and life-affirming imagery near her inevitable death may be seen as a visual manifestation of her psychological processes. The painting embodies Kahlo’s resilience and her effort in reclaiming agency over her perspective of life.

Contemporary References

Frida Kahlo's artistic legacy has had a profound and enduring impact on the next generation of artists. In the contemporary atmosphere, her painting Viva la Vida, Watermelons continues to be referenced and significantly influences the creation of new works.

In 2008, Coldplay released the song Viva la Vida. According to a Rolling Stone interview, Chris Martin, the singer of the band, chose this title after his encounter with the painting and was struck by “its boldness.” Chris saw the painting as a triumphant message against the hardships life has given to Kahlo, thus resonating with the theme of his band’s then album. The song Viva la Vida reflected the dignified attitude of King Louis XVI as he was executed during the French Revolution, resonating with the theme depicted in the painting Viva la Vida, Watermelons. Created during her final days, the painting served as Kahlo's dignified conclusion to her artistic journey and lifetime of continuous battle.

The painting was also a significant inspiration for a South Korean show in 2023, Twinkling Watermelons. The show tells a story of a CODA boy that traveled back in time when he met his mother and father during their high school years. As an aspiring artist, the mother looked up to Frida Kahlo, and her favorite painting was Kahlo’s Viva la Vida, Watermelons. The image of the watermelons and the phrase “Long Live Life” became a theme throughout the show that symbolizes youth and optimism against all adversities in life. Perhaps because she was born deaf, the boy’s mother resonated deeply with the artist's outspokenness about her disability and, like many of Kahlo's audience, appreciated her vibrant spirit and zest for life. This enduring message continued to be an encouragement for the boy’s father to persevere after a tragic accident that left him deaf.