Celebrating Frida Kahlo’s Birthday and Legacy Through Her Art

Published: June 29, 2025 by Nixza Gonzalez

Frida Kahlo was one of the best artists of the last century. This incredible artist painted well over 100 pieces in just 20 years. She was always working on a new project, skillfully mastering surrealism and self-portraits with so much symbolism.

Even the smallest of details in Kahlo’s paintings meant something. Born on July 6, 1907, in Mexico City, Mexico, Kahlo’s nationality and identity were important to her. You can see these influences throughout her art as she uses colors and symbols from Mexican culture and folklore. She was also known to make statements with her paintings, specifically feminist take on issues.

Apart from social issues, Kahlo painted her feelings and experiences. She struggled with fertility and chronic pain from an accident and would paint self-portraits showing this.

To celebrate her birthday, let’s dive into her life and most well-known art pieces.

Early Life

Known for her stunning self-portraits and her bushy unibrow, Frida Kahlo was unapologetically herself and had been for years. She was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón in Mexico City to a German father and a mestiza mother. Her Purépecha ancestry was very important to her and a common theme in paintings.

Life wasn’t easy for Frida, although she was intelligent and had many dreams. As a child, she suffered from polio and was even disabled from the effects. What really changed her life, though, was when she got into a bus accident. Before this terrible accident, she was set on studying medicine. During the bus accident, some people riding the bus passed away. Kahlo was left impaled by an iron handrail through her pelvis. Although she did recover from the accident, she was left with chronic pain and other issues.

Because of her injuries and long-lasting pain, her dreams of becoming a physician ended. As one door closed, though, another opened. Soon after the accident, she threw herself into painting.

Personal Life

Frida Kahlo was very social and involved. After she recovered, she met with old school friends and joined the Mexican Communist Party (PCM). While at a party, she met Diego Rivera, who started their love story. He was already an established artist, so she picked his brain, and he was absolutely stunned at her art, truly believing she had a lot of talent. Very quickly, the two began dating and married quietly in 1929. They remained together until Rivera requested a divorce in 1939.

After their divorce, Kahlo moved back to La Casa Azul, her childhood home, and painted like she’d never painted before. They remarried in 1940. Still, she produced so many paintings all detailing her personal life. Unfortunately, her health was always a problem and really started to deteriorate by the 1940s, and could no longer stand or sit up.

Death

Kahlo passed away at 47 years old on July 13, 1954. The night before, she suffered from a lot of pain and a very high fever. In the weeks and days before her passing, she spoke a lot about her death and constantly drew skeletons, almost like she knew her time was close. While the official cause of death was a pulmonary embolism because of her health issues, some people believe it was suicide as there were missing painkillers.

Beautiful Paintings by Frida Kahlo

Unfortunately, we don’t have access or images of all of Frida Kahlo’s paintings. Many were gifted and are in private collections, while others were simply lost over time. Click through the slideshow for some of her most popular work.

“Self-portrait in a Velvet Dress” (1926)

Type: Self portrait
Medium: Oil on canvas
Current Location: A private collection in Mexico City

“La Adelita, Pancho Villa, and Frida” (1927)

Medium: Oil on canvas
Current Location: The Tlaxcalteca Institute of Culture

“Frieda and Diego Rivera” (1931)

Type: Wedding portrait
Medium: Oil on canvas
Current Location: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

“Henry Ford Hospital” (1932)

Theme: Pregnancy loss
Medium: Oil on metal
Current Location: Dolores Olmedo Museum

“My Dress Hangs There” (1933)

Type: Collage
Medium: Oil and collage on masonite
Current Location: The Hoover Gallery

“Memory, the Heart” (1937)

Theme: Betrayal – This piece was about the affair between Frida’s sister and her husband.
Medium: Oil on metal
Current Location: The Collection of Michel Petitjean in Paris, France