Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón  was a famous artist, who later became an icon of modern feminism and the LGBTQA+ movement.

Frida was born in 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico. She had polio when she was a child and when she was 18, she suffered a terrible bus accident. She broke many of her bones, including her ribs and spine. She had to stay in bed for many months to heal.

While Frida was in bed, she needed a way to pass the time. She started to paint. Her father gave her a box of oil paints. Her mother made her a special easel so that she could paint while lying in bed. Soon, Frida realized that she loved to paint and was by the nature and artifacts of Mexico.

Frida became famous for painting self-portraits. Self-portraits are pictures of yourself. Frida painted 55 self-portraits. She did not try to make herself look happier or more beautiful in her paintings. Instead, she painted herself as she looked in real life.

In 1939, Mousée de Louvre purchased a painting The Frame from Kahlo, making her the first Mexican artist to be featured in their collection. A few years later, in 1953, shortly before her death, she finally had her first solo exhibition in Mexico. She died in 1954, at the age of 47.

Frida Kahlo did not have it easy. She was in a lot of pain for most of her life but she didn’t shy away from openly discussing issues such as identity, gender, race, class, postcolonialism, and race in her art. She was able to turn that pain into something good: beautiful artwork and inspiration for people all over the world.