1
00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:05,920
# I bought myself an aeroplane

2
00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:09,880
# To see how high
that it could take me

3
00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,840
# I made it to the Milky Way

4
00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:18,720
# But I'm still not even close

5
00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:29,240
Frida Kahlo is one of the most famous
female painters of the 20th century

6
00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,320
With a life both scrutinised and
immortalised

7
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,400
her work now attracts blockbuster
audiences and sells for millions.

8
00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:43,760
Born to an affluent family in
revolutionary Mexico,

9
00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,480
she had the courage to join the
people's fight

10
00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:50,360
and the bravery to turn personal
tragedy into potent art.

11
00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,080
Today, Frida is an inspiration to
people across the world.

12
00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,320
And though I'm no expert, she's an
inspiration to me, too.

13
00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:07,400
I first came across Frida's art
when I was a teenager.

14
00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,240
There was a real rawness. Love, loss,
betrayal...

15
00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:17,280
..pain, suffering. There's so much
going on in these paintings

16
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:19,200
through a woman's eyes.

17
00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,320
Four years ago, I was an
unknown medical student,

18
00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:27,680
but Frida's determination to pursue
her art against all odds

19
00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,160
inspired me to pursue my dream of
making music.

20
00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,080
And today, Frida is with me wherever
I go.

21
00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,760
This is my tattoo. I got this done
four years ago.

22
00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:46,600
As an artist, it's the bravery
I wanted a piece of, you know?

23
00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,760
So I feel like her being on my arm is
the constant reminder

24
00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:51,680
to not be afraid.

25
00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:58,760
Now I'm taking time out from writing
my second album

26
00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,680
to reconnect with Frida
on a deeper level.

27
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,560
For the first time ever, I'm going to
her homeland of Mexico.

28
00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,160
To see the place where she lived and
painted.

29
00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:17,080
This is where her spirit is left.

30
00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,240
To meet the people who knew her best.

31
00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,800
And to come face-to-face with her
finest work.

32
00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:25,640
She's made this.

33
00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:27,640
Hoping to enter the mind and spirit -

34
00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:29,560
Makes you feel like a bus.

35
00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:32,560
- Of the woman who is under my skin.

36
00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:44,800
Mexico City.

37
00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,720
I've travelled over 5,000 miles to be
here.

38
00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:50,960
There's no better place to learn
about her

39
00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:53,760
than where she was inspired,
where she was born.

40
00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,640
Things she would have seen every day.

41
00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:00,920
By coming to Mexico, I hope I can
really understand Frida.

42
00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:06,120
Frida adored Mexico.

43
00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:09,560
Its culture, its politics and its
people.

44
00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:14,200
And Mexico came to adore her, too.

45
00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:18,080
But 60 years after her death,

46
00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,440
can her presence still be felt on the
streets where she grew up?

47
00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:30,600
Ciudadela is one of Mexico City's
most famous craft markets.

48
00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:34,720
I love this market.

49
00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:38,320
It's all colourful.
Very alive.

50
00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,280
And it seems Frida is very much alive
here, too.

51
00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,040
She's the star of this market.

52
00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:52,120
But can you take this adoration a
little too far?

53
00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,400
Oh, wow.

54
00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:58,320
I have a feeling she wouldn't like
it.

55
00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:03,640
You know, perhaps her paintings being
in a place would be cool for her,

56
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,160
but she didn't really court this kind
of commerce.

57
00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:11,800
But I just can't resist picking up my
own little piece of Frida.

58
00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,760
I got money. Frida money!

59
00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:21,280
It's crazy she's on the money.

60
00:04:21,280 --> 00:04:23,600
She is the queen of Mexico.

61
00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:25,520
Officially!

62
00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,600
It seems Frida's face is everywhere.

63
00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,400
It's no surprise, because she made
around 70 self-portraits.

64
00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,240
Not bad for someone who had no
intention of becoming a painter.

65
00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:50,200
Frida was born in 1907 to an
affluent middle-class family.

66
00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,840
Her dad was a Jewish German
immigrant,

67
00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:56,280
her mum a Catholic from rural Mexico.

68
00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,240
The cleverest of four sisters,

69
00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:02,560
Frida had aspirations
to become a doctor.

70
00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:08,280
But I want to know how Frida came to
make such powerful art

71
00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:12,880
that secured her place as one of the
leading artists of the 20th century.

72
00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,520
Over on the other side of town is a
hangout

73
00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:26,400
for Mexico City's art students.

74
00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:32,560
Here at La Bota cafe,

75
00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,760
the walls are adorned with yet more
of Frida's self-portraits.

76
00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:46,360
They're strange pictures. Frida's
face tells us very little.

77
00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:49,440
But their meaning is in the detail.

78
00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:54,360
Can you talk me through some of the
symbolism in these pictures?

79
00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,120
Well, one of the things that I find
fascinating

80
00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:00,040
in Frida's self-portraits

81
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:04,840
is the employment of Christian
imagery that she does.

82
00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:08,320
She was anti-clerical, she didn't
believe in the church at all,

83
00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:12,560
but at the same time, she used a lot
of Christian symbols

84
00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,320
because she realised that was
something

85
00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,800
that was very much embedded in
Mexican culture.

86
00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,680
So if she used for instance the
crown of thorns,

87
00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:27,560
people can immediately then identify
that she's talking about suffering.

88
00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,200
Yeah. Four years ago,
I got this tattoo.

89
00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,760
A thorn necklace portrait.

90
00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,160
I don't know why you chose this one,
but it's one of my favourites.

91
00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,800
I am happy to see it and I think
it's also very well done.

92
00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:44,240
You are missing right here the
hummingbird.

93
00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,360
And some people say that it has to
do with luck

94
00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,080
that you can have in love.

95
00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,320
OK. And I took out the monkey and the
cat.

96
00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:56,480
What do you think they represent in
the portrait?

97
00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,680
The traditional history,

98
00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,800
they identify with a lot
of sexual connotations.

99
00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:10,200
Also, the black cat in the Christian
symbol is to do with the Devil.

100
00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:12,320
OK. So in some cultures, it's talking
about

101
00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,360
the way in which she was perceived.

102
00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:23,000
I love my tattoo, but with Frida
making so many self-portraits,

103
00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,600
some think she may have been a little
self-obsessed.

104
00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:32,840
I don't think that was an issue
with Friday.

105
00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:38,080
I think she found a way to translate
those very personal paintings

106
00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,200
into something more.

107
00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:42,880
Because it's not just about her
life.

108
00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,360
It's a statement about what life is.

109
00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,480
Through self-portraits,
Frida was able to make art

110
00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:52,680
that spoke not just to herself.

111
00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:58,200
Her work resonates with me and so
many others around the world.

112
00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:07,720
We're all essentially going through
the same thing.

113
00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,520
It's why, you know, even so many men
relate to her and her art

114
00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:13,440
as well as women. We're human.

115
00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:22,000
Frida intended to work herself out,
express herself.

116
00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:29,400
And I'm starting to see the value in
perhaps being more introspective

117
00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,200
because the better that you know
yourself,

118
00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,440
the more articulate you can be.

119
00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,320
But why did Frida paint
so many self-portraits?

120
00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,120
And how did her work come to have
such resonance for so many people?

121
00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,680
The answer can be traced back to one
catastrophic and life-changing event

122
00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:53,640
when Frida was just 18.

123
00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:00,640
It was 1925.

124
00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,960
Frida was on the threshold
of adult life.

125
00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,600
She was studying at the finest school
in Mexico,

126
00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,080
soon to embark on her medical career.

127
00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,720
But that was to change on
one fateful bus journey.

128
00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:19,320
She was on her way back from
school...

129
00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,360
..and this would have been a familiar
journey for her.

130
00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,520
She would have been looking forward
to getting home.

131
00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,160
Seeing her dad, maybe what she was
having for dinner.

132
00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,680
Probably lost in her thoughts, I'd
imagine.

133
00:09:34,680 --> 00:09:36,400
One thing I'm certain of,

134
00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:39,000
is she would have been
completely unaware

135
00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:40,920
of how her life was about to change.

136
00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:49,240
The bus Frida was travelling in was
smashed by a tram,

137
00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:51,240
here in the heart of Mexico City.

138
00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:56,720
It was a gruesome scene that left
Frida's body mutilated.

139
00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:03,280
She had a broken collarbone,
broken ribs, broken spine

140
00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:07,160
and her pelvis was pierced by the
handrail.

141
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,520
It entered through her side
and came out of her pelvis

142
00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:15,040
through the vagina, so Frida's body
was in quite a mess

143
00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:16,960
by the end of this crash.

144
00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,360
Doctors were unsure
if Frida would live.

145
00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,600
She spent a month in hospital,
encased in a plaster cast.

146
00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:29,200
Her spine was permanently damaged

147
00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,360
and she'd be in pain for the rest of
her days.

148
00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,160
But this crossroads in the heart of
Mexico City

149
00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,320
would prove to be a crossroads in
Frida's life.

150
00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:47,480
Out in the suburbs of Mexico City,
lies the Blue House.

151
00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:49,360
Her childhood home.

152
00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,480
This was the place Frida came to
recuperate after the bus crash.

153
00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,600
There's a strange feeling
of I've been here already

154
00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:04,760
or feeling like I've
returned somewhere.

155
00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:08,400
Today it's a shrine.

156
00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,640
Home to her easel, her paintbox

157
00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,800
and the many trinkets that made this
place her home.

158
00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,480
I love that they've left everything
in place

159
00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:22,400
and erm, you feel that Frida has just
up and left the room

160
00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:24,880
and maybe is coming back to finish
off a piece of art.

161
00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:26,920
This is a very special room.

162
00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:33,560
But after the crash, this place was
less a home, more a prison.

163
00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,080
During the long process of recovery,

164
00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,440
Frida was pretty much
confined to bed.

165
00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:48,640
To help past the time, a mirror was
installed above her bed.

166
00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:51,640
She was given a palette and
encouraged to paint.

167
00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,440
In this bed, Frida became an artist.

168
00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,240
When artists create, that's where the
energy is left.

169
00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,640
I think this is where her spirit is
left.

170
00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:09,640
And the fact that she slept right
here,

171
00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:13,880
yeah, I can feel the energy and I
think it still holds magic

172
00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:15,800
somewhere, somehow.

173
00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,480
Often alone and barely able to move,

174
00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:22,920
Frida turned to the subject she knew
the best.

175
00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:26,760
Herself.

176
00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,400
This would be the first of Frida's
many self-portraits.

177
00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:32,720
It was a tentative start.

178
00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:37,160
I think this is a pretty piece of
work.

179
00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,960
You know, it's nice to look at, but
it doesn't move me emotionally.

180
00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:45,320
It doesn't really give me much
insight into...into this woman.

181
00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:51,480
It lacks the rawness and the honesty
that is to come in later years.

182
00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,000
Though born out of so much pain,

183
00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,320
it seems Frida wasn't yet ready to
express it on a canvas.

184
00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:02,960
Even so, I think the painting is
deeply symbolic.

185
00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,200
For me, this picture is really a
symbol

186
00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,320
of her determination.

187
00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:11,880
I think most people under such
circumstances

188
00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:13,960
would close themselves off
from the world

189
00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:18,200
and...become wrapped up
in perhaps bitterness

190
00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,640
or sadness, despair.

191
00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:25,320
But she still wanted to create and

192
00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:27,240
and tell the world who she was.

193
00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:38,000
But more than this, Frida's first
portrait is a reminder to me.

194
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:41,720
To embrace my own art and use it as a
form of therapy.

195
00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:53,640
Music has always allowed me to
release a lot of stress, worry,
thoughts.

196
00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,240
You know, from the very first
portrait we saw

197
00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,960
I get the sense that it is true of
Frida as well.

198
00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:05,240
She needed to try and free herself of
this sadness or these struggles,

199
00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:09,520
so, yeah, I imagine painting would
really give her that release.

200
00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,600
An horrific accident had led Frida to
make her first self-portrait.

201
00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:20,440
But her work would only take on true
emotional power

202
00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,440
after a man had broken her heart.

203
00:14:38,865 --> 00:14:41,705
Here in the Blue House, Frida spent
around two years

204
00:14:41,705 --> 00:14:43,785
recuperating after the bus crash.

205
00:14:43,785 --> 00:14:46,825
But she was no stranger to sickness
or confinement.

206
00:14:49,145 --> 00:14:52,625
When Frida was six years old,
she contracted polio

207
00:14:52,625 --> 00:14:56,225
and that left her with
a withered right leg.

208
00:14:56,225 --> 00:15:01,705
So it confined her to La Casa Azure
for about eight months.

209
00:15:03,905 --> 00:15:07,905
Frida would go to her window, breathe
on the window,

210
00:15:07,905 --> 00:15:09,865
and draw a doorway.

211
00:15:09,865 --> 00:15:13,105
And through the doorway she entered
an imaginary world

212
00:15:13,105 --> 00:15:15,465
and could escape her situation.

213
00:15:17,265 --> 00:15:20,785
As a young girl, Frida had used her
imagination to escape.

214
00:15:21,985 --> 00:15:24,665
During her recovery
from the bus crash,

215
00:15:24,665 --> 00:15:26,625
she used painting.

216
00:15:28,425 --> 00:15:31,585
Her portraits are accomplished, but
they were just the beginning

217
00:15:31,585 --> 00:15:33,585
of her journey to artistic greatness.

218
00:15:35,785 --> 00:15:39,585
For now, Frida's greatest achievement
was to leave her sick bed

219
00:15:39,585 --> 00:15:41,505
and rejoin the world.

220
00:15:45,745 --> 00:15:49,185
In Frida's day, the Tenampas were the
young generation

221
00:15:49,185 --> 00:15:52,385
who came to drink, dance and put the
world to rights.

222
00:15:53,585 --> 00:15:57,145
It's really cool. It's, like, full of
energy and erm...

223
00:15:57,145 --> 00:15:59,225
a place you want to get drunk in,
I think.

224
00:16:00,425 --> 00:16:03,345
I would have come here. It's nice and
loud.

225
00:16:04,585 --> 00:16:06,505
It's proper music.

226
00:16:07,625 --> 00:16:10,425
After the Mexican revolution of 1910,

227
00:16:10,425 --> 00:16:13,545
places like this were
a hotbed of politics.

228
00:16:13,545 --> 00:16:16,825
The country had been gripped by
fighting and corruption,

229
00:16:16,825 --> 00:16:20,505
and the youth of Mexico were
campaigning for a better future.

230
00:16:21,825 --> 00:16:23,985
Freed from the confines
of the Blue House,

231
00:16:23,985 --> 00:16:26,065
Frida joined the fight.

232
00:16:26,065 --> 00:16:30,545
She's loved by the people and this is
the spirit of Mexico,

233
00:16:30,545 --> 00:16:32,425
so she embodies that.

234
00:16:33,785 --> 00:16:37,465
In Frida's eyes, the only way to
secure a better future

235
00:16:37,465 --> 00:16:39,745
was through the politics of
communism.

236
00:16:42,825 --> 00:16:44,705
How did Frida get into politics?

237
00:17:29,545 --> 00:17:32,145
Frida never lost her passion for
politics.

238
00:17:33,385 --> 00:17:37,305
In this later work, she is embraced
by one of the great minds behind
communism -

239
00:17:37,305 --> 00:17:39,305
Karl Marx.

240
00:17:39,305 --> 00:17:42,025
And even towards the end of her life,

241
00:17:42,025 --> 00:17:43,985
she was still demonstrating on the
streets.

242
00:17:45,905 --> 00:17:49,345
But it was in the political ferment
of the late 1920s

243
00:17:49,345 --> 00:17:52,385
that Frida met the man who would
change her life forever.

244
00:17:53,185 --> 00:17:55,825
His name was Diego Rivera.

245
00:18:00,025 --> 00:18:03,585
Rivera was seen as the greatest
Mexican artist of his time,

246
00:18:03,585 --> 00:18:06,545
known for painting huge public
murals.

247
00:18:08,465 --> 00:18:12,785
He was twice-married, twice her age,
and definitely no looker.

248
00:18:14,185 --> 00:18:16,185
So what did Frida see in him?

249
00:18:16,185 --> 00:18:20,225
Here in Mexico City, few know better
than Rina Lazo.

250
00:18:20,225 --> 00:18:24,985
Now I want you to sit in Frida's
chair.

251
00:18:24,985 --> 00:18:28,265
Oh, wow. (LAUGHS) And I'll sit in
Diego's chair.

252
00:18:29,305 --> 00:18:33,065
As a young woman, she was Diego's
assistant and intimate friend.

253
00:18:33,065 --> 00:18:35,305
What kind of man was Diego?

254
00:18:35,305 --> 00:18:40,105
Well, he always was admired by
women.

255
00:18:40,105 --> 00:18:45,785
Because women feel that he uh...

256
00:18:47,305 --> 00:18:50,985
..encouraged them to be someone.
Right.

257
00:18:50,985 --> 00:18:53,025
Were you attracted to Diego?

258
00:18:53,025 --> 00:18:56,785
Well, I think...yes.

259
00:18:56,785 --> 00:19:00,065
But his attraction was his wisdom.

260
00:19:00,065 --> 00:19:03,665
He could talk to you about
everything.

261
00:19:03,665 --> 00:19:08,745
And that made you feel like you are
in love with him

262
00:19:08,745 --> 00:19:11,665
because you are in love with his
wisdom.

263
00:19:11,665 --> 00:19:14,825
It was wonderful to work with him.

264
00:19:14,825 --> 00:19:22,425
I think he was like a teacher and
like a guide for...for your life.

265
00:19:22,425 --> 00:19:24,345
Yes.

266
00:19:26,225 --> 00:19:29,505
Meeting somebody that had worked so
closely with Diego

267
00:19:29,505 --> 00:19:32,465
really brought this whole experience
to life.

268
00:19:32,465 --> 00:19:36,785
Rina really spoke of his passion, his
wisdom

269
00:19:36,785 --> 00:19:39,825
and his real belief in women

270
00:19:39,825 --> 00:19:43,385
and his understanding of beauty on a
level

271
00:19:43,385 --> 00:19:45,545
that perhaps other people don't
understand.

272
00:19:45,545 --> 00:19:48,745
So erm, yeah, I think I like Diego.

273
00:19:48,745 --> 00:19:50,665
(LAUGHS)

274
00:19:52,945 --> 00:19:55,305
And obviously, Frida felt the same.

275
00:19:57,545 --> 00:20:02,265
They dated for just a year and in

276
00:20:02,265 --> 00:20:06,225
To celebrate their love, Frida later
made a painting.

277
00:20:07,105 --> 00:20:10,945
And it's one that reveals a lot about
how she saw her role in the marriage.

278
00:20:12,865 --> 00:20:16,145
Diego was a big man, but she's
painted herself very small in
comparison.

279
00:20:16,145 --> 00:20:18,905
It's very clear that he is the
painter, he is the artist

280
00:20:18,905 --> 00:20:21,025
and she is the wife.

281
00:20:21,025 --> 00:20:27,865
I have this impression of Frida as an
outspoken feminist, ballsy woman.

282
00:20:27,865 --> 00:20:32,185
So to see her like this, a very
sensitive, intimate side of her

283
00:20:32,185 --> 00:20:35,985
and I think it's beautiful to see...

284
00:20:35,985 --> 00:20:39,425
I don't think many people would have
seen this side of her in real life,

285
00:20:39,425 --> 00:20:41,305
so to see it displayed here in a
painting,

286
00:20:41,305 --> 00:20:43,745
her wanting to express that to the
world,

287
00:20:43,745 --> 00:20:45,585
I think it's quite brave of her,
really.

288
00:20:46,585 --> 00:20:48,825
Though Frida cast herself as the
wife,

289
00:20:48,825 --> 00:20:51,425
Diego could see her potential as a
painter.

290
00:20:52,865 --> 00:20:56,945
And he'd exert a powerful influence
over her life and work.

291
00:20:58,585 --> 00:21:02,385
Diego was fascinated by Mexico's
cultural heritage.

292
00:21:03,425 --> 00:21:06,865
Under his influence, Frida began to
look back and interrogate

293
00:21:06,865 --> 00:21:08,785
her own roots.

294
00:21:10,745 --> 00:21:14,785
At the Blue House is a painting which
explains how Frida's roots

295
00:21:14,785 --> 00:21:16,705
were different to most.

296
00:21:17,945 --> 00:21:21,785
This is a painting by Frida
named My Family.

297
00:21:21,785 --> 00:21:26,185
And here we have her parents,
her mother, her father.

298
00:21:26,185 --> 00:21:32,705
Her father was German and the mother
was Mexican from Wahaca.

299
00:21:32,705 --> 00:21:35,465
So in this time period,
how unusual was it

300
00:21:35,465 --> 00:21:39,105
to have a mix of cultures
within one family?

301
00:21:39,105 --> 00:21:44,505
It was not really common, but this
mix was erm,

302
00:21:44,505 --> 00:21:50,465
so important because Frida is not
normal people of that period.

303
00:21:50,465 --> 00:21:56,545
Frida is really...avant-garde for
her period

304
00:21:56,545 --> 00:21:58,865
and she was not normal.

305
00:21:58,865 --> 00:22:03,545
Yeah. Frida grew up more influenced
by her European father,

306
00:22:03,545 --> 00:22:06,545
rather than the traditional Mexican
roots of her mother.

307
00:22:07,425 --> 00:22:10,905
Growing up in Scotland with a Zambian
dad and an English mum,

308
00:22:10,905 --> 00:22:13,305
I know just how the young Frida must
have felt.

309
00:22:15,825 --> 00:22:18,385
I just remember a real longing when I
was younger

310
00:22:18,385 --> 00:22:22,625
for this other erm, this other world,

311
00:22:22,625 --> 00:22:24,625
which was half of me, but I knew
nothing of.

312
00:22:24,625 --> 00:22:28,305
There was no connection with Africa
in Scotland,

313
00:22:28,305 --> 00:22:31,865
so...you long for it, and I think
that's what I found in music.

314
00:22:33,785 --> 00:22:36,345
And I think Frida found the same in
art.

315
00:22:37,385 --> 00:22:40,385
She began making paintings
that showed her affinity

316
00:22:40,385 --> 00:22:42,305
with her Mexican roots.

317
00:22:43,785 --> 00:22:46,345
They culminated with two staggering
paintings.

318
00:22:49,505 --> 00:22:52,545
Here, Frida is suckling at the breast
of an Indian nurse.

319
00:22:57,465 --> 00:23:00,505
And here she's depicted among some
great icons of Mexico.

320
00:23:01,505 --> 00:23:05,345
Symbolising betrayal,
death and fertility.

321
00:23:08,585 --> 00:23:12,425
But painting wasn't the only way
Frida reclaimed her Mexican roots.

322
00:23:23,385 --> 00:23:27,105
I have to show you something very
interesting.

323
00:23:27,105 --> 00:23:29,305
OK. Cibeles Henez-Throza

324
00:23:29,305 --> 00:23:32,825
owns an unrivalled collection of
traditional Mexican dresses

325
00:23:32,825 --> 00:23:35,705
of the type Frida is now famous for.

326
00:23:35,705 --> 00:23:41,065
That's the way we keep the dresses
from my little town.

327
00:23:42,145 --> 00:23:45,145
Her collection is amongst her most
valuable heirlooms.

328
00:23:46,385 --> 00:23:51,545
This is a skirt that you would use
every day.

329
00:23:51,545 --> 00:23:53,825
It's called "rabona".

330
00:23:53,825 --> 00:23:57,185
Rabona.
And this is called "repil."

331
00:23:58,465 --> 00:24:00,425
It's a blouse.

332
00:24:02,785 --> 00:24:05,705
These fabrics are made in England.

333
00:24:05,705 --> 00:24:10,105
OK.
Let me just show you this repil.

334
00:24:10,105 --> 00:24:12,025
That is in the painting.

335
00:24:13,945 --> 00:24:16,025
And who's the woman in the painting?
My mother.

336
00:24:17,705 --> 00:24:20,945
It's beautiful.
It's the same one.

337
00:24:22,425 --> 00:24:25,985
But there's one dress here that had a
very special owner.

338
00:24:25,985 --> 00:24:32,505
My mother gave Frida this dress.

339
00:24:33,665 --> 00:24:36,185
This was Frida's dress?
Frida's dress.

340
00:24:36,185 --> 00:24:38,185
Wow.

341
00:24:38,185 --> 00:24:40,425
Would you like to try it?

342
00:24:40,425 --> 00:24:42,385
Yeah. (LAUGHS)

343
00:24:43,625 --> 00:24:46,705
Today, Frida's dresses
are priceless artefacts.

344
00:24:46,705 --> 00:24:48,985
Who could resist trying one on?

345
00:24:48,985 --> 00:24:52,105
And maybe a few accessories, too.

346
00:24:53,545 --> 00:24:57,345
Because we have the shawl higher, we
use this.

347
00:24:57,345 --> 00:25:00,505
We put this...like that.

348
00:25:00,505 --> 00:25:02,505
Ah, OK.

349
00:25:02,505 --> 00:25:06,305
Do you want this one or another one?

350
00:25:06,305 --> 00:25:08,785
Erm...
There are many.

351
00:25:08,785 --> 00:25:10,745
I'll try this one.

352
00:25:12,345 --> 00:25:14,385
Here.

353
00:25:14,385 --> 00:25:18,265
All right. I'll be back.

354
00:25:18,265 --> 00:25:20,185
"Tonight, Matthew..."
(LAUGHS)

355
00:25:20,185 --> 00:25:22,105
"..I'll be Frida!"

356
00:25:23,425 --> 00:25:25,105
Oh!
(LAUGHS)

357
00:25:25,105 --> 00:25:27,745
You look beautiful.
Thank you.

358
00:25:27,745 --> 00:25:31,065
I love it.
(LAUGHS)

359
00:25:31,065 --> 00:25:33,065
Beautiful.
Thank you.

360
00:25:33,065 --> 00:25:38,985
Do you want to...to...to try
jewellery? Yes, please.

361
00:25:38,985 --> 00:25:42,545
This one is called -
(SPEAKS IN MEXICAN)

362
00:25:56,145 --> 00:25:59,545
It feels quite spiritual, you know,
to be in the same dress

363
00:25:59,545 --> 00:26:01,665
as Frida Kahlo.

364
00:26:01,665 --> 00:26:03,545
I feel like a different person in the
dress.

365
00:26:04,505 --> 00:26:06,505
Yeah, it feels powerful.

366
00:26:06,505 --> 00:26:08,425
It's amazing.

367
00:26:16,945 --> 00:26:18,785
Makes you feel like a bus.
(LAUGHS)

368
00:26:20,145 --> 00:26:23,225
Frida's dresses allowed her to
project the pride and passion

369
00:26:23,225 --> 00:26:25,185
she had in her Mexican roots.

370
00:26:27,385 --> 00:26:31,145
Wearing Frida's dress, I didn't think
that was...

371
00:26:31,145 --> 00:26:33,225
would never, ever happen.

372
00:26:33,225 --> 00:26:35,305
Just being alone, putting it on,

373
00:26:35,305 --> 00:26:39,305
just felt like such a significant
experience in my life.

374
00:26:39,305 --> 00:26:42,225
And you feel transformed, you know?

375
00:26:42,225 --> 00:26:44,105
I felt like a different person.

376
00:26:45,265 --> 00:26:47,905
I'm sure Frida felt like
a different person, too.

377
00:26:49,105 --> 00:26:51,705
But I know of an obscure sketch that
tells another story.

378
00:26:53,465 --> 00:26:55,425
It shows that beneath the dress,

379
00:26:55,425 --> 00:26:58,025
there remained a broken
and fragile body.

380
00:26:59,705 --> 00:27:01,865
I don't think she did really want
people to know

381
00:27:01,865 --> 00:27:05,225
how vulnerable she was.

382
00:27:05,225 --> 00:27:10,785
And I think with the effects of polio
on her right leg, spinal column...

383
00:27:10,785 --> 00:27:12,705
she's broken underneath it all.

384
00:27:12,705 --> 00:27:14,825
But this is giving her strength.

385
00:27:16,985 --> 00:27:21,705
I'm sure it helped to wear something
that gave her more power.

386
00:27:24,065 --> 00:27:27,425
But Frida's insecurities ran deeper
than the physical scars

387
00:27:27,425 --> 00:27:29,345
that remained from childhood.

388
00:27:32,425 --> 00:27:34,705
Hidden away in a corner
of the Blue House

389
00:27:34,705 --> 00:27:36,625
is a cabinet of curiousities

390
00:27:36,625 --> 00:27:39,185
that betray Frida's
most heartfelt desires.

391
00:27:44,625 --> 00:27:48,305
These are miniature pieces
of furniture and trinkets

392
00:27:48,305 --> 00:27:50,265
that were for her doll's house

393
00:27:50,265 --> 00:27:54,345
and she'd been collecting them since
she was a child over the years,

394
00:27:54,345 --> 00:27:56,745
just building this massive
collection.

395
00:27:58,345 --> 00:28:01,585
First things that stand out to me are
the musical instruments.

396
00:28:01,585 --> 00:28:07,185
She's got a grand piano, maybe a baby
grand.

397
00:28:07,185 --> 00:28:09,185
Oh, she's got another piano over
there.

398
00:28:09,185 --> 00:28:11,065
I wonder how musical she was?

399
00:28:12,185 --> 00:28:15,505
Erm...yeah, I'd like a few
of these things

400
00:28:15,505 --> 00:28:18,265
enlarged to real life size.
(LAUGHS)

401
00:28:19,105 --> 00:28:21,785
To me, these are not mute objects.

402
00:28:21,785 --> 00:28:25,905
They speak ever so quietly of Frida's
deep longing to become a mother.

403
00:28:28,185 --> 00:28:32,105
There's a baby wrapped up, there's a
smaller baby on the bed.

404
00:28:34,065 --> 00:28:37,265
The fact that she had this collection
from when she was...

405
00:28:37,265 --> 00:28:40,025
a child and continued to build it...

406
00:28:40,025 --> 00:28:45,465
she was creating this world which
does reflect her curiousity with
motherhood.

407
00:28:50,705 --> 00:28:53,745
But Frida would never fulfil her
dream of motherhood.

408
00:28:55,385 --> 00:28:59,945
Across her life, Frida suffered at
least three devastating miscarriages.

409
00:29:01,065 --> 00:29:05,345
The most harrowing of these happened
in 1932, during a trip to America.

410
00:29:09,505 --> 00:29:12,505
This remarkable footage was taken in
Detroit.

411
00:29:12,505 --> 00:29:16,985
It shows Diego hard at work on a new
mural, while Frida watches on.

412
00:29:19,665 --> 00:29:21,345
Under the glare of the lens,

413
00:29:21,345 --> 00:29:24,545
she does her best to hide her inner
anguish at her recent miscarriage.

414
00:29:33,545 --> 00:29:35,425
But what happened in Detroit

415
00:29:35,425 --> 00:29:38,465
would inspire one of Frida's most
dramatic paintings.

416
00:29:42,465 --> 00:29:44,385
You can see here in the background

417
00:29:44,385 --> 00:29:49,225
there's an industrial background of
Detroit.

418
00:29:51,225 --> 00:29:55,785
You have the bed and then you have
all these arteries

419
00:29:55,785 --> 00:29:59,345
linking to these different aspects of
things that she's lost.

420
00:30:00,785 --> 00:30:03,265
You have the foetus. The lumbar
spine.

421
00:30:04,305 --> 00:30:06,385
The pelvis.

422
00:30:06,385 --> 00:30:08,905
What strikes me about this picture

423
00:30:08,905 --> 00:30:13,025
is it's a real departure from what
we've seen so far from her work.

424
00:30:13,025 --> 00:30:16,665
Erm, you know, the rawness
and the honesty

425
00:30:16,665 --> 00:30:20,905
which she becomes renowned for is
really marked in this painting.

426
00:30:22,065 --> 00:30:26,425
I think this is...this is the
beginning of something

427
00:30:26,425 --> 00:30:28,345
that is very raw.

428
00:30:29,225 --> 00:30:31,185
And very dark.

429
00:30:35,145 --> 00:30:37,985
In fact, Frida was being encouraged
by Diego

430
00:30:37,985 --> 00:30:41,105
to look back at a curious tradition
in Mexican painting.

431
00:30:44,625 --> 00:30:47,465
Today the tradition is all but dead.

432
00:30:47,465 --> 00:30:50,145
But I've heard of an artist who's
keeping it alive

433
00:30:50,145 --> 00:30:53,665
in a place they call
the Corner Of Miracles.

434
00:30:58,345 --> 00:31:01,065
Alfredo Vichilles
is a retablo painter.

435
00:31:01,065 --> 00:31:04,825
He's commissioned to make work by
people who have suffered misfortune

436
00:31:04,825 --> 00:31:06,705
or a narrow escape from death.

437
00:31:09,505 --> 00:31:11,545
Can you tell me more about retablo
painting?

438
00:31:32,985 --> 00:31:36,825
Why do you think that Frida turned to
retablo for inspiration?

439
00:32:24,465 --> 00:32:27,905
Retablos gave Frida's work a new and
gruesome dimension.

440
00:32:29,265 --> 00:32:32,025
Where human pain and suffering were
laid bare.

441
00:32:35,105 --> 00:32:37,305
She painted the bloody scene of her
own birth.

442
00:32:38,905 --> 00:32:41,145
The suicide of a showbiz starlet.

443
00:32:43,065 --> 00:32:45,705
But Frida's most potent retablo
would come

444
00:32:45,705 --> 00:32:47,785
when the man she loved the most

445
00:32:47,785 --> 00:32:50,185
committed the ultimate act of
betrayal.

446
00:32:53,945 --> 00:32:59,545
Around 1934, Diego began an affair
with Frida's sister, Christina.

447
00:33:00,465 --> 00:33:02,385
Though he'd had affairs before,

448
00:33:02,385 --> 00:33:05,465
this relationship was
a devastating blow.

449
00:33:05,465 --> 00:33:07,425
It broke Frida's heart.

450
00:33:08,745 --> 00:33:13,065
In one of her writings, Frida summed
up how she was feeling in three
words.

451
00:33:13,065 --> 00:33:16,225
Erm, which were "murder by life."

452
00:33:18,865 --> 00:33:23,305
When Frida felt able to take up the
brush, she made a brutal retablo.

453
00:33:25,545 --> 00:33:27,785
In it, she drew on the pain of others

454
00:33:27,785 --> 00:33:30,385
to portray the pain
of Diego's treachery.

455
00:33:31,345 --> 00:33:34,665
Frida had read about a famous murder

456
00:33:34,665 --> 00:33:40,585
and she was using this to symbolise
how the affair had affected her.

457
00:33:40,585 --> 00:33:45,105
So above here there's the banner
saying, "A few small nips."

458
00:33:46,545 --> 00:33:51,345
And this is what the murderer is
quoted to have said in court.

459
00:33:52,785 --> 00:33:56,145
And erm, it suggests a lack of
remorse

460
00:33:56,145 --> 00:33:59,185
and a lack of understanding as to
what he had done

461
00:33:59,185 --> 00:34:01,825
and the pain he'd caused, really.

462
00:34:01,825 --> 00:34:05,705
So...I think it's a very clever way

463
00:34:05,705 --> 00:34:10,905
of...of expressing how she felt after
the affair.

464
00:34:12,345 --> 00:34:15,985
But across her life, Frida had
affairs of her own.

465
00:34:15,985 --> 00:34:18,625
Celebrity photographer
Nickolas Moray.

466
00:34:20,065 --> 00:34:22,705
Modernist sculptor Isamu Noguchi.

467
00:34:23,945 --> 00:34:28,145
And she's even rumoured to have had a
fling with cabaret sensation
Josephine Baker.

468
00:34:31,385 --> 00:34:34,825
But in 1937, she would embark on one
affair

469
00:34:34,825 --> 00:34:39,345
that would have unforeseen
consequences for her life and art.

470
00:34:44,185 --> 00:34:47,185
This is the home of Leon Trotsky.

471
00:34:47,185 --> 00:34:49,345
As a devotee of communism,

472
00:34:49,345 --> 00:34:52,425
he'd helped lead the Russian
revolution of 1917.

473
00:34:53,505 --> 00:34:57,065
But political differences
had sent him into exile

474
00:34:57,065 --> 00:35:00,865
and in 1937, he'd washed up here in
Mexico City.

475
00:35:04,545 --> 00:35:06,705
Trotsky was idolised by Diego

476
00:35:06,705 --> 00:35:10,625
and Frida must have been equally
enthralled.

477
00:35:11,945 --> 00:35:15,185
Frida's ideal man was someone of
great intelligence.

478
00:35:15,185 --> 00:35:17,945
I think that excited her,
someone that was...

479
00:35:19,105 --> 00:35:24,185
..was determined and capable of
saving the world in some way.

480
00:35:26,145 --> 00:35:30,345
A great intelligent man was probably
her Achilles' Heel, I think.

481
00:35:31,705 --> 00:35:36,225
It wasn't long before this meeting of
minds became a passionate affair.

482
00:35:37,545 --> 00:35:41,625
Frida was a very...disobedient
person.

483
00:35:41,625 --> 00:35:47,425
She seduced most of the men who were
around her.

484
00:35:47,425 --> 00:35:53,145
(LAUGHS) And at that time,
even Frida confessed that

485
00:35:53,145 --> 00:35:58,705
Diego did not know of this little
affair

486
00:35:58,705 --> 00:36:01,985
that was between Frida and Trotsky.

487
00:36:03,785 --> 00:36:07,505
After the affair, Frida dedicated a
painting to her ex-lover.

488
00:36:09,145 --> 00:36:11,505
I think knowing how important her
art was to her,

489
00:36:11,505 --> 00:36:14,505
for her to dedicate a picture to
Trotsky

490
00:36:14,505 --> 00:36:21,025
was, you know, says a lot. This is
her most precious...gift

491
00:36:21,025 --> 00:36:23,665
and to give it to a man, that says
quite a lot.

492
00:36:23,665 --> 00:36:25,585
A man that's not her husband.

493
00:36:26,625 --> 00:36:29,865
For a painter who's famed for pain
and suffering,

494
00:36:29,865 --> 00:36:33,785
it's rare to see Frida depict herself
in such flirtatious mood.

495
00:36:35,345 --> 00:36:39,545
She's holding a bouquet of flowers,
there's flowers in her hair.

496
00:36:39,545 --> 00:36:42,745
A brooch. It's just very delicate.

497
00:36:42,745 --> 00:36:47,665
Yeah, this is Frida sending some late
night texts. (LAUGHS)

498
00:36:49,865 --> 00:36:53,265
But maybe there's more to this affair
than painting and passion.

499
00:36:56,065 --> 00:36:58,145
Perhaps it was revenge.

500
00:36:58,145 --> 00:37:04,465
This is a man that is Diego's idol,
so how better to achieve revenge?

501
00:37:05,745 --> 00:37:08,945
You know, the love of your life
sleeping with your sister

502
00:37:08,945 --> 00:37:11,985
is going to scar you very deeply.

503
00:37:11,985 --> 00:37:16,305
When Diego found out
about the affair, he was furious.

504
00:37:16,305 --> 00:37:19,745
It's rumoured that's why he filed for
divorce in 1939.

505
00:37:26,425 --> 00:37:30,105
Now in her early 30s, and after a
decade of marriage,

506
00:37:30,105 --> 00:37:32,025
Frida walked alone.

507
00:37:33,705 --> 00:37:35,785
It was a time of deep emotional pain,

508
00:37:35,785 --> 00:37:39,665
but it was now that Frida set to work
on a new painting

509
00:37:39,665 --> 00:37:42,105
of lost love and loneliness.

510
00:37:44,105 --> 00:37:46,945
It was to be her first great
masterpiece.

511
00:37:50,425 --> 00:37:53,425
You do feel quite starstruck. It's
right here in front of you.

512
00:37:55,745 --> 00:37:58,985
I'm just seeing more detail than I've
seen before.

513
00:38:00,585 --> 00:38:02,985
The muscle tissue she's painted a
different colour.

514
00:38:02,985 --> 00:38:07,025
All the chambers are there, she's
painted what is really underneath.

515
00:38:08,985 --> 00:38:12,345
The Two Fridas was painted as the
divorce papers came through.

516
00:38:13,385 --> 00:38:16,545
If you look at the hearts, the Frida
on the right

517
00:38:16,545 --> 00:38:18,705
is the one Diego had loved.

518
00:38:18,705 --> 00:38:21,225
The Frida on the left is the one he
no longer loves.

519
00:38:23,905 --> 00:38:27,505
And to me, this painting represents
the moment that Frida's art

520
00:38:27,505 --> 00:38:29,585
reached a new psychological depth.

521
00:38:33,225 --> 00:38:37,225
When you really deeply love someone,
they become you, you become them.

522
00:38:37,225 --> 00:38:40,265
So when that falls apart,

523
00:38:40,265 --> 00:38:42,785
you have to reconnect
with yourself again.

524
00:38:42,785 --> 00:38:45,545
You know, she has to be her own
companion.

525
00:38:45,545 --> 00:38:47,825
She has to be her own lifeline again.

526
00:38:47,825 --> 00:38:50,265
I think she's completely alone here.

527
00:38:52,785 --> 00:38:56,345
With herself. Yeah, I felt that.

528
00:39:06,545 --> 00:39:09,505
Seeing the Two Fridas painting
and tracing the path

529
00:39:09,505 --> 00:39:12,945
that Frida took to get there, has
made me understand

530
00:39:12,945 --> 00:39:14,825
what it takes to make serious art.

531
00:39:24,185 --> 00:39:28,545
As an artist, I think you're always
trying to tap into your deepest
emotions.

532
00:39:28,545 --> 00:39:33,425
In the Two Fridas painting, I think
Frida was trying to reveal

533
00:39:33,425 --> 00:39:37,985
a deeper truth to us and that's how
you create something that's great.

534
00:39:40,545 --> 00:39:43,625
The braver you can be, the closer to
the truth you'll get

535
00:39:48,145 --> 00:39:51,665
But just as Frida was gaining a
reputation as a great artist,

536
00:39:51,665 --> 00:39:53,665
she would be betrayed again.

537
00:39:53,665 --> 00:39:56,745
Not by a man, but by her own body.

538
00:40:04,165 --> 00:40:08,125
Despite the wrench of divorce,
Frida's seperation from Diego

539
00:40:08,125 --> 00:40:10,285
lasted just a year.

540
00:40:10,285 --> 00:40:13,045
Their lives too entangled,
too dependent.

541
00:40:13,045 --> 00:40:15,645
But the split was a catalyst.

542
00:40:18,365 --> 00:40:21,725
Up until then, it had been Diego
telling everyone,

543
00:40:21,725 --> 00:40:24,205
"This is an amazing artist.
One day you'll see."

544
00:40:24,205 --> 00:40:27,245
I don't know how confident she was
about her art.

545
00:40:27,245 --> 00:40:32,165
But I'm sure someone bigging you up
and claiming you almost,

546
00:40:32,165 --> 00:40:34,965
I'm sure she would have felt quite
flattered and quite like,

547
00:40:34,965 --> 00:40:37,565
"Oh, I belong. Perhaps I belong
somewhere now."

548
00:40:46,085 --> 00:40:49,845
I want to trace Frida's footsteps out
of the artistic wilderness

549
00:40:49,845 --> 00:40:53,325
and into the limelight as the great
painter I've come to know.

550
00:40:54,805 --> 00:40:58,205
It's a story that begins back in
1938,

551
00:40:58,205 --> 00:41:00,565
when Frida as discovered by the
Surrealists

552
00:41:00,565 --> 00:41:02,685
and their leader Andre Breton.

553
00:41:04,325 --> 00:41:07,325
How did Frida come into contact with
the Surrealists?

554
00:41:07,325 --> 00:41:12,285
The Surrealists had pronounced
interest in Mexico in general.

555
00:41:12,285 --> 00:41:18,605
And Breton wrote that in the work of
Frida,

556
00:41:18,605 --> 00:41:25,565
you could see elements that were
close or similar to Surrealism.

557
00:41:25,565 --> 00:41:29,245
OK. And somehow that the work of
Frida

558
00:41:29,245 --> 00:41:32,605
expressed this Surrealist
sensibility.

559
00:41:37,005 --> 00:41:40,245
The Surrealists were fascinated by
the subconscious mind

560
00:41:40,245 --> 00:41:42,165
and their dreams.

561
00:41:43,645 --> 00:41:45,925
Painting worlds that were beyond
reality.

562
00:41:47,925 --> 00:41:51,485
And in Frida, they claimed
a Mexican Surrealist

563
00:41:51,485 --> 00:41:54,245
who painted herself
in strange landscapes.

564
00:41:57,005 --> 00:41:59,605
And who painted the inner workings of
her mind.

565
00:42:00,525 --> 00:42:04,605
How did Frida's link to Surrealism
affect her career?

566
00:42:04,605 --> 00:42:12,005
I think Surrealism functioned as a
platform of exposure

567
00:42:12,005 --> 00:42:16,565
for her work during
the '30s and '40s.

568
00:42:18,565 --> 00:42:21,205
Though she never saw herself as a
Surrealist,

569
00:42:21,205 --> 00:42:24,405
her connection with them brought
Frida to the big time.

570
00:42:27,805 --> 00:42:31,245
1938 saw her first solo exhibition.

571
00:42:32,085 --> 00:42:34,365
COMMENTATOR: New York is not only
steel and salt,

572
00:42:34,365 --> 00:42:38,205
it is people, too. A strange
cosmopolitan paradise.

573
00:42:39,205 --> 00:42:42,325
Held in New York City,
it virtually sold out.

574
00:42:42,325 --> 00:42:46,525
The following year she became the
first modern Mexican painter

575
00:42:46,525 --> 00:42:48,845
to be bought by the Louvre in Paris.

576
00:42:48,845 --> 00:42:53,885
And Picasso was so impressed, he gave
her a handy set of earrings.

577
00:42:55,885 --> 00:42:58,845
When she made it into the pages of
Vogue,

578
00:42:58,845 --> 00:43:03,125
Frida had found recognition as an
independent woman and artist.

579
00:43:05,765 --> 00:43:08,205
I know what it must have felt like
for Friday.

580
00:43:08,205 --> 00:43:10,165
It's a journey I've been on myself.

581
00:43:12,245 --> 00:43:15,485
The way I was discovered and the way
I got into the industry

582
00:43:15,485 --> 00:43:17,965
was through producer Naughty Boy,

583
00:43:17,965 --> 00:43:21,565
so I kind of see him as the
equivalent of Diego

584
00:43:21,565 --> 00:43:25,525
because during those two, three
years, I was in his shadow.

585
00:43:25,525 --> 00:43:28,125
And then there came a point where we
had to split up,

586
00:43:28,125 --> 00:43:32,125
and I had to go and promote my album
and be "Emeli Sande."

587
00:43:32,125 --> 00:43:35,285
So I definitely understand how she
feels,

588
00:43:35,285 --> 00:43:37,165
how she would have felt at that
moment.

589
00:43:37,165 --> 00:43:40,325
But no sooner had the world opened up
for Frida,

590
00:43:40,325 --> 00:43:42,245
then she was forced to retreat.

591
00:43:43,885 --> 00:43:48,565
In 1944, the physical pain that Frida
had battled with since childhood

592
00:43:48,565 --> 00:43:50,685
became more acute.

593
00:43:50,685 --> 00:43:53,885
Surgeons performed numerous
operations and spinal taps.

594
00:43:54,925 --> 00:43:57,845
And Frida was forced to wear a
restrictive corset

595
00:43:57,845 --> 00:43:59,805
which she used as a canvas.

596
00:44:01,005 --> 00:44:04,005
But it was now that Frida made
what I think

597
00:44:04,005 --> 00:44:09,165
is her most powerful and heartrending
painting of pain and frustration.

598
00:44:12,205 --> 00:44:14,285
Her body is failing her now.

599
00:44:14,285 --> 00:44:16,285
It's a betrayal of her body.

600
00:44:16,285 --> 00:44:19,005
So erm, it's real sadness, it's pain.

601
00:44:19,005 --> 00:44:24,525
She's broken. She's desperately
trying to bind it back together

602
00:44:24,525 --> 00:44:27,005
and find a way to still stand, but
it's erm...

603
00:44:27,005 --> 00:44:29,405
you know, it's her disintegration.

604
00:44:29,405 --> 00:44:32,805
So, yeah, there's a
real pain and hurt.

605
00:44:32,805 --> 00:44:35,485
Maybe it's become overwhelming at
this point

606
00:44:35,485 --> 00:44:37,885
because there is no attempt to cover
it.

607
00:44:37,885 --> 00:44:41,925
So, yeah, I think we're seeing a
vulnerable woman now

608
00:44:41,925 --> 00:44:43,845
and she's allowing us to see that.

609
00:44:48,325 --> 00:44:51,165
As Frida's health deteriorated
further,

610
00:44:51,165 --> 00:44:53,325
her friends rallied around.

611
00:44:53,325 --> 00:44:57,245
In 1953, they organised an exhibition
of her work.

612
00:44:57,245 --> 00:45:02,165
It was to be her first and only solo
exhibition in her beloved Mexico.

613
00:45:03,805 --> 00:45:07,085
It was less a celebration,
more a farewell.

614
00:45:18,525 --> 00:45:21,765
Arturo Bustos was a close friend of
Frida

615
00:45:21,765 --> 00:45:23,845
and witnessed her bravery on the
night.

616
00:46:11,685 --> 00:46:15,325
In 1954, just a year after her
exhibition,

617
00:46:15,325 --> 00:46:17,685
Frida was struck down with pneumonia.

618
00:46:19,645 --> 00:46:21,725
She passed away.

619
00:46:21,725 --> 00:46:23,845
She was 47 years old.

620
00:46:26,445 --> 00:46:29,085
Today, Frida's work sells for
millions

621
00:46:29,085 --> 00:46:31,045
and is revered across the globe.

622
00:46:32,245 --> 00:46:35,445
But hers is a legacy that goes far
beyond painting.

623
00:46:36,765 --> 00:46:40,925
As a feminist icon,
she has an army of devoted fans

624
00:46:40,925 --> 00:46:43,045
including myself.

625
00:46:43,045 --> 00:46:44,725
And in the minds of those who knew
her,

626
00:46:44,725 --> 00:46:47,725
Frida's spirit will always live on.

627
00:46:50,085 --> 00:46:54,765
I think by going to Mexico,
I found...a human Frida.

628
00:46:56,685 --> 00:47:00,045
Frida was trying to reveal a deeper
truth to us

629
00:47:00,045 --> 00:47:04,805
and perhaps examine herself at the
same time.

630
00:47:04,805 --> 00:47:08,285
I think her art speaks universally.

631
00:47:14,085 --> 00:47:18,005
But it's Frida's commitment to giving
us the truth of her feelings

632
00:47:18,005 --> 00:47:19,965
that's so inspiring to me.

633
00:47:26,365 --> 00:47:28,845
I'm going to say everything and I
really don't care

634
00:47:28,845 --> 00:47:30,685
what people are gonna think of me,

635
00:47:30,685 --> 00:47:32,845
it's just how I need to express
myself.

636
00:47:34,005 --> 00:47:37,845
Whether they think it's awful or not,
it's still the truth.

637
00:47:37,845 --> 00:47:41,765
And I think there's beauty in the
truth and greatness in the truth.

638
00:47:41,765 --> 00:47:45,245
And I think that's how you create
something that's great.

639
00:47:49,085 --> 00:47:51,045
subtitles by Deluxe