(b. Coyacan, Mexico, 1907; d. Mexico City, 1954). Kahlo is renowned for her paintings that depict her strong political beliefs as well as important psychological and autobiographical references. Kahlo was born in Coyacan Mexico in 1907. Her father also an artist and photographer was an important influence on Kahlo. Her father was a German Jew of Austro-Hungarian descent and her mother was a mestiza and a devout Catholic. Kahlo was politically active from a very early age but her activities were curbed by her affliction with polio in 1916. She studied at the National Preparatory School and graduated in 1923 with plans to attend medical school. Her hopes were destroyed when an accident left her slightly disabled. In 1928 she joined the Mexican Communist Party and met Tina Modotti and Diego Rivera. Kahlo and Rivera married in 1929 and she accompanied him to the US where he worked on mural projects in San Francisco, Detroit and New York. She later returned to Mexico and became involved with Leon Trotsky, Andre Breton and Marcel Duchamp. It was Duchamp who enabled Kahlo to show her work with Julien Levy Gallery in New York. Her relationship with Trotsky grew more personal until 1940 when Trotsky was assassinated while staying at her house. She continued to be heavily involved politically and during WWII she became active in the anti-fascist movement. Today her house in Coyoacan has become the Museo Frida Kahlo.
