Great Art Explained

Season 1, Episode 5: Frida Kahlo's 'The Two Fridas"

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Frida Kahlo is the most famous female artist in history. She deviated from the traditional portrayal of female beauty in art, and instead chose to paint raw and honest experiences. A near fatal bus accident at 18 left Frida crippled and in chronic pain her whole life, but she managed to make a virtue out of adversity, and astonishing original art out of her pain. She was a Mexican, female artist who was disabled, in a male-dominated environment in post-revolutionary Mexico. A feminist icon who broke all social conventions, and produced some of the most haunting and visionary images of the 20th century. James Payne explains 'The Two Fridas', her greatest painting, created during a period of deep instability fro Frida Kahlo.