The iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo lived an extraordinary life filled with both joy and hardship. While her iconic self-portraits and vibrant paintings have captivated art lovers for generations, there are many surprising and little-known facts about this avant-garde artist and feminist icon worth discovering.

From her close ties with famous surrealists to her unconventional love story, Kahlo’s life was anything but ordinary. Read on for 10 intriguing Frida Kahlo fun facts that illuminate surprising aspects of her storied life and legendary career.

1. She Had Polio as a Child

As a child, Kahlo contracted polio, which caused her right leg to atrophy and made that leg appear thinner in her later self-portraits. The disease left Kahlo with a lifelong limp. This early brush with illness and physical limitation was just one of many hardships Frida endured throughout her life.

2. She Aspired to Become a Doctor

Before dedicating her life to art, Kahlo hoped to enter medical school to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor. As a teenager, she studied to become a medical doctor and developed a keen interest in anatomy, physiology, and biology. These subjects would later influence the imagery of pain and human fragility seen in many of Kahlo’s most famous self-portraits.

3. She Lost Her Virginity to Diego Rivera Twice

Kahlo married the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera…twice. Not only did Kahlo lose her virginity to Rivera at the age of 22, but the couple divorced in 1939 only to remarry again in 1940. Their second marriage lasted until Frida’s death in 1954. The couple’s dramatic, rollercoaster romance was just as colorful and tumultuous as Kahlo’s vibrant artwork.

4. She Flirted with Leon Trotsky

Kahlo is famous for her illicit affair with the Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky, who fled to Mexico in 1937 after being expelled from the Soviet Union. When Trotsky first arrived, Kahlo flirted with him openly despite her marriage to Rivera. Kahlo eventually embarked on a passionate love affair with Trotsky that put an intense strain on her already rocky marriage.

5. She Befriended Renowned Surrealists

Like her artworks, Frida Kahlo’s social circle was anything but conventional. During her lifetime Kahlo connected with some of the 20th century’s most famous surrealist and avant-garde artists. In Paris she became friends with Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso. Back home in Mexico, she hosted prominent Communist refugee intellectuals like Leon Trotsky as well as artists and film stars such as Edward G. Robinson.

6. She Frequently Incorporated Political Symbols Into Her Art

As a lifelong member of Mexico’s Communist party, Kahlo ardently wove political commentary into the symbolism, imagery, and iconography of many paintings. Her 1935 painting My Dress Hangs Here is a powerful political statement that fuses commercial iconography with Communist symbolism. This type of socio-political commentary was a signature mark of Kahlo’s avant-garde artistic style.

7. She Struggled With Infertility Issues

Kahlo longed to start a family with Rivera, but tragically suffered multiple miscarriages as well as an induced abortion for medical reasons. Her dream to become a mother remained unfulfilled, and her inability to have children caused Kahlo tremendous grief. The anguish of Kahlo’s unrealized motherhood permeates her 1932 painting Henry Ford Hospital, which depicts her sadness and isolation following a miscarriage.

8. She Depicted Her Physical Pain in Her Art

The near-fatal bus accident Kahlo suffered as a teenager left her body wracked with lifelong injuries and chronic pain. As a means of cathartic release, Kahlo channeled her constant physical suffering into raw, soul-baring self-portraits such as The Broken Column and The Wounded Deer. Using art to articulate her anguish, Kahlo created devastatingly beautiful visualizations of human fragility and resilience.

9. She Was Bedridden For Months On End

Due to a blood clot in her pelvis, a reoccurrence of childhood polio, and other health complications, Kahlo spent months at a time confined to bed throughout her life. It was during these periods of isolation that Kahlo taught herself to paint lying on her back with the aid of a special easel rigged above her bed. Necessity bred creativity for Kahlo, who produced numerous masterpieces despite temporary paralysis.

10. She Was Rediscovered Posthumously

Although Kahlo enjoyed moderate success during her lifetime, her reputation soared posthumously in the 1970s thanks to the emergent Chicano Movement and surging interest in feminist art history. She soon gained international recognition as a visionary Surrealist and iconic symbol of female self-expression in Mexico. Today Kahlo ranks among history’s most acclaimed painters, cementing her status as a cultural icon.

Conclusion

While Kahlo’s tumultuous life was filled with physical and emotional hardship, she embraced existence fully, channeling her joys and sorrows into monumental works of art. As these surprising Frida Kahlo facts illuminate, her storied life defied expectations at every turn, forging the immortal legend of a defiant, unapologetic iconoclast who redefined everything about the woman artist.