The Forum

Frida Kahlo, the iconic and flamboyant Mexican painter, is one of the most famous female artists of our age. Her rebellious and subversive works are instantly recognisable. Many are self-portraits depicting an arresting dark and heavy-browed woman, often in bright traditional Mexican dress with flowers woven into her hair, staring straight out of the canvas. In her life time, she was better known as the wife of her celebrated artist husband, Diego Rivera. Now, she is arguably more famous than him, and her paintings sell for millions of dollars. Having lived and documented a life filled with physical and emotional pain, her blisteringly personal and political accounts now speak to populations young and old the world over. Bridget Kendall discusses her life, work and posthumous success with Kahlo experts Circe Henestrosa, Gannit Ankori, and Oriana Baddeley. (Photo: Frida Kahlo. Credit: Ivan Dmitri/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)