Page 9 - 10 at 10: The Surprising Childhoods of Ten Remarkable People

Frida kahlo

1907–1954

You have probably heard the art advice to paint or draw 1907
what you see. But what if all you can see is limited to what Frida is born.
surrounds your bed? This was the reality Frida Kahlo faced
after a bus accident confined her to her bed for over a
year. So, Frida chose to paint the most fascinating subject
contained in the four walls of her room—herself.
Painting yourself is called a self-portrait, and Frida painted
a lot of self-portraits throughout her life. When asked why, she
said, “Because I am the subject I know best.” Like most artists,
Frida was on a quest to know herself through her art, and she Age 3
held nothing back. Mexican Revolution
That journey began in 1907 in La Casa Azul—a bright blue begins.
house surrounded by a garden of lush tropical plants and the
rainbow-colored birds native to Coyoacán, Mexico. Yet despite
her surroundings, color did not always fill Frida’s childhood. Age 6
At the age of six she contracted polio, and it left her with one
leg shorter than the other. The kids teased her at school and Contracts
called her peg-leg Frida. She ignored the taunts and filled her polio. Her
days climbing trees and racing around town on her bike. leg shrinks.
When she was ten, her father taught her photography—
developing, retouching, and coloring photographs. She most
likely got her love of surface details from these early art lessons.
When she was fifteen, Frida secured a spot at the National
Preparatory School with only twenty-five girls out of two
thousand students. Although intelligent, Frida was also a
troublemaker. She joined a gang of rebellious kids called Los
Cachuchas, named after the cloth caps they wore. The gang Age 15
discussed politics, culture, and books while pranking teachers. Attends the
One of the people Frida pranked was the famed painter Diego National
Rivera. While he was painting a mural at her school, she stole Preparatory
his lunch and soaped the stairs to make him fall.
School to
study medicine
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