These two figures come to life in paintings by Mexican painters Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) and Diego Rivera (1886-1957). More than 60 paintings, including these two, from their oeuvres are currently on display in Seoul.
In ‘The Bus’ (1929), Frida Kahlo depicts the scene at a bus stop just before there's an accident. It was inspired by her reminiscences of a bus accident in which she herself was injured.
Diego Rivera painted ‘Self-Portrait with Broad-Brimmed Hat’ in 1907.
The Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera exhibition kicked off at the Seoul Arts Center on May 28 and sheds particular light on the female artist Kahlo, a painter who represented Mexican art in the 20th century and who was known for turning her inner struggles into art. The exhibition also brings to light the art of her husband, Rivera, who has been credited for the way he portrayed Mexican myths, history and ordinary people in his murals.
If Rivera usually depicted the daily life of common Mexican people, it's safe to say that Kahlo portrayed her own life, a life stricken by pain. She painted her sufferings on canvas, full of pain and agony that came from her injury to the left leg caused by polio at the age of 6, and from a fatal car accident at 18.
She suffered not only physically, but mentally, too. Rivera’s continuous cheating and her three miscarriages plunged Kahlo into great distress. Her pain emerges in one of her most well-known paintings, “Henry Ford Hospital” (1932). In the painting, a woman lies on a sickbed with umbilical cord-like strings connected to her belly. The depiction shows Kahlo’s sense of despair after she had a miscarriage earlier at the same hospital.
Frida Kahlo’s 1932 work ‘Henry Ford Hospital’ portrays her despair after she suffered a miscarriage.
Diego Rivera’s 1932 lithograph ‘The Agrarian Leader Zapata’ shows Emiliano Zapata, the hero of the Mexican Revolution, standing triumphantly next to the fallen dictator. Rivera painted this out of respect for the historic event.
“This exhibition gives you a chance to browse through a set of paintings by these two Mexican artists that expose the national identity, the people and history,” said Carlos Phillips Olmedo, director of the Dolores Olmedo Museum in Mexico. “In particular, Kahlo’s paintings give a glimpse into how desperately the artist wanted to get herself out of both physical and mental pain,” he added.
The Seoul exhibit continues until Aug. 28.
The Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera exhibition, currently underway at the Seoul Arts Center, runs until Aug. 28. Its official poster features Frida Kahlo’s 1944 artwork ‘The Broken Column’ that portrays a woman in grave pain with an iron pipe penetrating through her torso.
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Seoul Arts Center
jiae5853@korea.kr
