Frida Kahlo's Bus Accident

Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940

For the second event that has to be connected to the image’s subject it is about Frida’s surgeries throughout that time period. I chose Frida Kahlo’s 1940 Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird where it shows her with thorns around her neck to symbolize the pain she had experienced from her bus accident. Frida’s bus accident took place on September 17th, 1925. Frida was riding a bus with her boyfriend Gomez Arias when suddenly the bus crashed into a trolley which resulted in Frida having a broken spinal column, collar bone, ribs, pelvis, 11 fractures in her leg, and an iron hand rail punctured her abdomen and uterus. She had been put into a full boy cast which she spent 3 months in to recover from her injuries and her ability to walk had been affected for the rest of Frida’s life. Frida had gone through thirty five operations to fix her body after her accident. She painted herself when she had to wear special corsets to protect her back spine, Frida had to seek a lot of medical treatment for her chronic pain yet nothing had worked for her. She described herself as “naked and split down the middle”. Frida’s condition had only worsened from there on out. Continuing in 1950 where she was diagnosed with gangrene in her right foot which is death of body tissue due to lack of blood flow or bacterial infection. This event can help someone understand Frida’s image better because it allows them to understand that during the time Frida was creating this painting she was in physical pain. The image allows viewers to have a mental look at how it made her feel since others aren't able to experience it physically. 

Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940, by Frida Kahlo, www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-with-thorn-necklace-and-hummingbird.jsp. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.

“The Accident - Google Arts & Culture.” Google, Google, artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/the-accident/tQIi_eBGGrS5IQ?hl=en. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.

Associated Place(s)

Event date:

The middle of the month Autumn 1925 to 1950

Parent Chronology: