The Two Fridas: The Joyous and Tragic Life of Frida Kahlo

The Two Fridas: The Joyous and Tragic Life of Frida Kahlo　　

In The Two Fridas , by legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, two likenesses of the artist sit side by side, holding hands. The one on the right wears a traditional Mexican costume, and grips a small portrait of her husband, Diego. The heart is exposed, plump, red and whole. Contrastingly, the Frida on the left is clothed in a lacy white European gown, her exposed heart is broken and dry. This painting vividly depicts the artist's intense pain during a separation from her husband and her conflicted feelings about the different cultural influences in her life.　　

Frida Kahlo was born in 1907 on a rainy morning in the small town of Coyoacan, Mexico City, to a German-Jewish father and a Mexican mother. From the time she was a young girl, she had a bold personality, full of mischief and unbridled enthusiasm. At the advice of her doctor after a bout with polio, she got involved in all kinds of sports, including boxing. She was teased because of her deformed leg, but soon learned to deal with it.　　

As a teen, Frida entered a preparatory school where she was one of only a few girls. She loved reading and learning about many subjects, but she was not academically inclined. Because of her high intelligence, however, she excelled in her studies without much effort. In the meantime, she became part of a group of boys who were involved in pursuits of both troublemaking and intellectual expansion. At the age of 18, Frida's life suddenly changed course. The bus she was riding on one morning was struck by a streetcar. Frida was impaled by a steel cable, and sustained numerous broken bones.
揮灑烈愛 ─ 芙烈達的雙面人生　　

在墨西哥傳奇女畫家芙烈達的畫作《兩個卡蘿》中，和畫家酷似的兩人握著手端坐在一起。右邊那位穿著傳統墨西哥服裝，手持丈夫迪亞哥的小幅肖像；她圓潤、鮮紅、飽滿的心臟裸露在外。相反地，左邊的芙烈達身著歐式白色蕾絲禮服，外露的心破裂、乾枯。這幅畫生動描繪了畫家和丈夫分離時的強烈痛楚，以及生命中不同的文化影響帶給她的衝突情緒。　　

芙烈達‧卡蘿在 1907 年一個下雨的早晨誕生於墨西哥市的科約阿坎小鎮上，父親是德裔猶太人，母親是墨西哥人。自少女時代起，她便非常直率大膽、淘氣頑皮、熱情奔放。罹患小兒麻痺症後，她在醫生建議下從事包括拳擊在內的各項運動。她因腿部畸形而遭到恥笑，但很快就學會應付這種情況。　　

十來歲時，芙烈達進入一所預備學校，成為該校少數幾名女生之一。芙烈達喜歡閱讀及學習多種學科，但其志趣並不在學業上。然而，由於天資聰穎，她無需費太多心力就在課業上表現突出。芙烈達同時也是一群既調皮搗蛋又追求智能發展的男生中的一員。18 歲時，芙烈達的人生遭逢巨變。一天早上，她搭乘的公車被電車撞上，芙烈達的身體被鋼索刺穿，多處骨折。

While Frida lay in bed recovering, encased in a body cast, her father gave her his box of paints and brushes and encouraged her to paint. Through painting, she found a sense of freedom from her pain and a way to express herself. Frida endured more than 30 operations throughout her life, scarring both her body and her mind.　　

However, she remained bold, just like when she was a girl. She threw wild parties, swore like a sailor, and refused to shave, wax, or pluck her small mustache or her thick black eyebrows. She continued to do what she loved doing best － painting. Many of her works are self-portraits which express her suffering, passion, and whimsy. They are filled with imaginative and often disturbing images. The bright, warm colors and symbols in her paintings also reflect her rich Mexican heritage.　　

The famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera first entered Frida's life while he was painting a mural at her high school. When she showed him some of her first works, he encouraged her to continue painting. Diego was clearly moved by the experience, stating "... her sparkling presence filled me with a wonderful joy." Though he was twice her size and old enough to be her father, they later became lovers and married. Their relationship was full of passion and fraught with painful infidelities on both of their parts. But in spite of their difficulties, they always came back to each other. In Self Portrait as a Tehuana and Diego and I, Frida painted herself with an image of Diego on her brow. The paintings speak of how Diego was constantly in Frida's thoughts, and of her wish to always have him close.
當芙烈達打著石膏躺在床上等待康復時，她父親送她一盒顏料及畫筆，鼓勵她作畫。透過繪畫，她找到一種自痛苦解脫的自由及表達自我的方式。芙烈達一生中忍受了 30 多次手術，身心皆受創。　　

雖然如此，她仍像少女時期一樣勇敢直率。她舉辦狂歡派對，像水手一樣說粗話，拒絕剃除、用除毛蠟刮除或拔除嘴上的汗毛與濃密的黑眉。她也繼續從事自己的最愛 － 繪畫。芙烈達許多作品符都是表達其痛苦、熱情和異想的自畫像，其中充滿著想像及常令人不安的畫面。畫中明亮溫暖的色彩和象徵亦反映其濃厚的墨西哥傳統。　　

著名墨西哥畫家迪亞哥‧里維拉在芙烈達的中學畫壁畫時，首次進入她的生命。芙烈達向迪亞哥展示她早期的作品，他則鼓勵她繼續作畫。迪亞哥顯然被這次經歷深深打動，他道：「……她亮眼的風采令我備感無以言喻的喜悅。」雖然迪亞哥體型是芙烈達的兩倍，年紀也足以當她父親，二人仍成為戀人並步入禮堂。他們的關係充滿了熱情和令雙方痛苦的不貞。即使困難重重，他們最後總會回到對方身邊。在畫作《穿著特旺納裳的自畫像》及《迪亞哥與我》中，芙烈達在自畫像的額頭上畫了迪亞哥的肖像。這兩幅畫顯示芙烈達時時念著迪亞哥，並希望他永遠在身旁。

Frida had her first solo exhibition in 1938, in New York. It was a great success and sent her reputation as an artist soaring. Her paintings perfectly combine dreamlike imagery with realism. In her self-portrait The Broken Column, her broken body is held together only by the straps of a steel corset. Her flesh is torn open from her neck to her belly, revealing a crumbling Ionic column within. The column represents her damaged spine. Nails large and small are lodged in Frida's face and body, while tears stream down her face. Frida stands alone, possibly because she feels isolated in her physical and emotional pain.　　

Her health continued to deteriorate. By 1953 Frida was so strung-out on painkillers she could barely pick up a paintbrush. That same year Frida was honored with her first solo exhibition in her native country. She had been in the hospital for almost a year straight, but refused to miss the exhibition. She surprised everyone by having her bed carried into the gallery with her on it.　　On July 13, 1954, on a rainy night in Coyoacan in the same house where she was born 47 years earlier, Frida left this world. Her last diary entry reads: "I hope the exit is joyful ... and I hope never to return – Frida." Her former home in Mexico, called "the Blue House" because of its bright blue color, is now a museum with a display of her paintings, clothing, jewelry, and things she collected. Her legacy lives on in the paintings and stories she left behind.

1938 年，芙烈達於紐約舉辨的首次個展獲得極大成功，將其藝術家聲望推至高峰。她的作品將夢境般圖像與現實完美結合。在自畫像《破碎的脊柱》中，她破碎的身體僅由鋼製束腹的帶子支撐，頸部到腹部被剖開，露出搖搖欲墜的愛奧尼亞式柱條。柱條代表了芙烈達受傷的脊柱，臉部和身體插滿大大小小的釘子，淚水從臉龐滑落。芙烈達兀自站立，或許是因為在身心的雙重痛苦下感到孤立無援。　　她的健康持續惡化。到了 1953 年，服用止痛藥成癮的芙烈達虛弱到提不起畫筆。同年，她在祖國舉辦首次個展。當時她已住院整整一年，但仍不願錯過此次展覽。當她躺在床上被抬進展覽廳時，大家都震驚不已。　　

1954 年 7 月 13 日那晚，科約阿坎鎮正下著雨，芙烈達在 47 年前出生的同間屋內離開了人世。她最後一則日記寫著：「我希望這次離開是喜悅的……我希望永不復返 － 芙烈達。」她墨西哥的故居由於漆著明亮的藍色，而被稱為「藍屋」，現在是陳列她畫作、服裝、珠寶和收藏品的博物館。芙烈達的精神遺產將在其遺留的畫作和傳奇中永垂不朽。