Lake View East in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Frida Kahlo

— The Legacy Walk —

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2021

1. Frida Kahlo Marker

Inscription.
Frida Kahlo
(Bisexual Mexican Artist)
1907 - 1954

As a child Frida Kahlo was deeply affected by the armed struggles she witnessed on the streets of Mexico City; so much so that later in her life she would claim 1910 – the official start of the Mexican Revolution – as the year of her birth. Kahlo contracted polio at age six and suffered from spina bifida. Plagued with health problems throughout her life, she sustained horrifying injuries when a bus she was riding in collided with a trolley car. After the accident confined her to a full-body cast, Kahlo began to paint. Her work – characterized by its stark portrayal of both psychological and physical pain – incorporated 19th-Century Mexican portraiture, elements of Mexican pop culture and pre-Columbian iconography, and was often done on sheet metal rather than canvas. Nearly one-third of her paintings are self-portraits for, as Kahlo once said, “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best." Against her mother’s wishes, in 1929 Kahlo began a tempestuous marriage to Mexican painter, Diego Rivera, who recognized her talent early on, though for much of her career she would remain in his shadow. Defying convention, she flaunted numerous extramarital affairs – relationships complicated by Rivera’s own friendships with some of her paramours, most

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notably Leon Trotsky, Josephine Baker, and artists Isamu Noguchi and Georgia O’Keeffe. By the 1950’s her health issues became nearly all-consuming – culminating with the amputation of her right leg in 1953. During her hospitalization she contracted bronchial pneumonia and died a week after her forty-seventh birthday from a pulmonary embolism. Kahlo’s idiosyncratic work was not widely recognized until decades after her death as part of the Modern Mexican Art movement. Her ancestral home, Casa Azul ("Blue House") in Coyoacán, Mexico City, is now a popular museum and tourist destination. Decades after her death, Frida Kahlo remains one of the most intriguing and beloved artists of the 20th Century. On June 21, 2001, she became the first Latin American woman to be honored with a U.S. postage stamp.

Erected 2012 by The Legacy Project.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Hispanic Americans • Women. In addition, it is included in the The Legacy Walk series list. A significant historical date for this entry is July 6, 1907.

Location. 41° 56.802′ N, 87° 38.973′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in Lake View East. It is on North Halsted Street, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3540 North Halsted, Chicago IL 60657,

Frida Kahlo Marker - wide view image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2021

2. Frida Kahlo Marker - wide view

United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Chicago’s North Side. It is also in the American Midwest.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Fr. Mychal Judge (here, next to this marker); Alvin Ailey (a few steps from this marker); Ruth Ellis (a few steps from this marker); American Veterans for Equal Rights Military Memorial (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); 42nd Precinct/Town Hall Police Station (about 300 feet away); Dr. Tom Waddell (about 300 feet away); Barbara Jordan (about 300 feet away); Two Spirit (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.

Also see . . .
1. Frida Kahlo (Wikipedia).

"Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class,

3. Marker inset: Frida Kahlo
(See next photo for image source)
and race in Mexican society. Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. In addition to belonging to the post-revolutionary Mexicayotl movement, which sought to define a Mexican identity, Kahlo has been described as a surrealist or magical realist. She is known for painting about her experience of chronic pain."

(Submitted on September 17, 2021.)

2. Frida Kahlo and her paintings (FridaKahlo.org). The artist's foundation provides a biography, along with many paintings, photos, video. (Submitted on September 17, 2021.)

Additional keywords. lgbt lgbtq

<i>Frida Kahlo de Rivera</i> - 3-color Carbro portrait image. Click for full size.

Nickolas Muray (courtesy of the National Museum of American History / Smithsonian Institution), circa 1946

4. Frida Kahlo de Rivera - 3-color Carbro portrait

Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 17, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 353 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on September 17, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.