Kahlo was in almost constant pain, due to a childhood bout with polio and a bus accident that nearly killed her as a teenager ("Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo," Eyeconart, 2009). Her marriage to Rivera, which ended in divorce, was also a frequent subject of her raw, unsparing works of art. This is unsurprising given Rivera's volatile personality and frequent infidelities.

Kahlo's preferred subject matter was herself: she did not desire to fashion a sweeping panorama that attempted to speak for all of the Mexican people. Kahlo aimed to speak for herself alone. But she created works of art that her viewers could connect with on a personal level. When comparing the husband and wife's works of art, Rivera's works seem stuffed with action, have complicated designs, and are often teeming with different focal points. Kahlo's, in contrast, usually have a single focal point -- often Frida herself -- and...
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