Frida Kahlo Is Quoted as Saying, I

Frida Kahlo is quoted as saying, "I suffered two grave accidents in my life. One in which a streetcar knocked me down. The other accident is Diego," (cited by Botis 1). The love relationship between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is one of the most famous in modern art. Their relationship was tumultuous, which seemed to be a good recipe for creativity and artistic self-expression. "It is a well-known fact that they had a passionate and stormy relationship, filled with great love and also betrayals," ("Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera" 1). The relationship between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera shows that love, even when it is painful, can be a powerful muse.

The term muse refers to any kind of creative inspiration. The ancient Greek muses were female beings who provided inspiration for scientists, poets, musicians, and comedians (Oxford English Dictionary). A muse can be anyone, but in legend a muse is often "a woman, or a force personified as a woman, who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist," (Oxford English Dictionary). For Diego Rivera, then, Frida Kahlo was his muse. The reverse is also true, though. Diego Rivera was Frida Kahlo's muse, as together they shared a powerful, intense romantic relationship. Although the relationship was stormy, or possibly for that very reason, Kahlo and Rivera created works of art that have left an indelible impression on human culture.

The way their respective muses worked was different for Kahlo and Rivera. For Kahlo, she depicted herself and her life in highly personal ways in her paintings. She had physical illnesses as well as psychological pain that is evident in paintings like "Frida's Column." As Budrys points out, the famous painter "is an impressive example of an artist whose entire life and creativity were extremely influenced by chronic, severe illness," (4). In other words, it was not just Diego that was Frida's muse. It was also her illness. Pain, it can be said, provided Frida Kahlo with her most powerful and enduring muse and allowed her to create lasting works of art.

The primary difference between the art of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is that "Diego's work would be more public and monumental, whereas Frida's was more personal and intimate in scale," (Botis 1). Rivera painted many public murals, and they were politically charged. "He decided that he wanted to create paintings which would speak directly to the common people. Active in the socialist revolution in Mexico, he felt that art could play a part in this by educating the Mexicans about their history," (Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera" 1). The themes explored in Rivera's work were inspired by more than just Frida Kahlo directly. Just as Frida Kahlo was inspired by her physical pain and suffering, Rivera was inspired by the suffering of his people. Both Rivera and Kahlo played off of each other, the one creating personal and introspective art and the other producing extroverted works that had political meaning.

In spite of the different attitudes and approaches to art embodied by these two artists, love was a major muse for Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. When Frida met Diego, he was 41 years old (Herrera). He seemed to be driven by an inner and inexplicable force. "He painted with such fluency and speed that it sometimes seemed he was driven by a telluric force," (Herrera 80). With this image, it is likely that when Diego met Frida, he became animated by her muse. Rivera was obsessed with painting once he begun to work. It is obvious based on descriptions of him working that Diego Rivera was inspired by a muse. Rivera had other love interests, and therefore other muses, than Frida Kahlo. Both Kahlo and Rivera in fact had many other love affairs other than with each other, and doubtlessly each of these sexual encounters gave rise to artistic expression. In fact, "Rivera had an affair with Kahlo's younger sister Christina, and Kahlo was devastated by her husband and her sister's betrayal of trust," (Botis 1). Love in all its forms can be a muse.