Frida Kahlo Museum

This was an incredible experience and was extremely well done. As a youth, Frida intended to be a doctor, but her injuries made that impossible. Polio left her with one withered leg. Then, while riding to school, her bus was hit by a streetcar. A metal handrail went completely through her body, destroying her spine and her womb. From that time, she was in constant pain, undergoing many, many operations, wearing braces and corsets, some of which she designed herself. She also took up painting. Perhaps understandably, much of her work focuses on her injuries and on childbirth.

Through it all, every report declares that she continued to enjoy her life and to never give up. Glance at her watermelon still life. The seeds spell out the words "Hurray for Life!" There was one photo which struck me as remarkable. It was from later in her life when she had lost one leg and most of her mobility. Freda is on her back in bed, strapped in traction. Her head is held immobile. Only her arms were free to move. Over the bed was a contraption holding a canvas in front of her face and she was painting.

From this stage of her life comes the quote (approximate), "I have no need for legs because I can fly."

We had to stand in line outside "The Blue House", Casa Azul.

Many of her works are self-portraits.

In constant pain, she still loved life.

Diego Rivera, her husband had many affairs. So did she. The numbers around Diego's face represent affairs that she knew about.

This picture by Diego was dedicated to Frida when she died.

Frida's kitchen, nothing modern, nothing electric.
The blue counter is actually a long wood cookstove.

In her studio (to which she later needed to be carried).

The knickknacks in her home are amazing.

In her garden, she kept many dogs, cats, rabbits, even a small deer and a monkey.