Template:POTD/2019-07-06
Frida Kahlo (6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican artist who created many paintings, self-portraits and other works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. She often featured her own body in her paintings, presenting it in varying states and disguises: as wounded, broken, as a child or clothed in different outfits, such as Tehuana attire, a man's suit or European dress. Kahlo was heavily influenced by Mexicanidad, a romantic nationalism that claimed to resist the "mindset of cultural inferiority" created by colonialism by placing special importance on Mexican indigenous cultures and Aztec mythology. Her paintings also often feature imagery with roots growing out of her body; she developed a complex iconography, extensively employing pre-Columbian and Christian symbols and mythology in her paintings. In most of her self-portraits, she depicts her face as mask-like, but surrounded by visual cues which allow the viewer to decipher deeper meanings from the work.
This picture of Kahlo was taken by American photographer Toni Frissell, as part of a 1937 photo shoot for Vogue magazine entitled "Señoras of Mexico". She is depicted outdoors, seated next to an agave plant. The photograph is in the collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.Photograph credit: Toni Frissell; restored by Adam Cuerden