Freud’s Psychoanalysis in Art: Frida Kahlo’s Surrealism

One of the most influential social scientists of his time, Sigmund Freud and his theories on psychoanalysis remains relevant today in the study of homosexual personality and the influence of the subconscious on human thinking and behavior.Freuds ideas on the significance of dreams, which was seen by him as the expression of human organisms innermost desire, were in fact borrowed by artists ascribing to surrealism who sought to affect the subconscious. Surrealist paintings atomic number 18 thus characterized with the employment of symbols and often have a unreal quality to them, where cannot always be taken at face revalue or by literal translation.It is no wonder then that Freuds ideas have been widely used in the interpretation of works of art or even of character sketches. Freuds theory on how personalities are developed which revolves around the main ideas of id, ego, and superego, have, for instance, been used to explain how sex and libido may be transformed into other fo rms of energies, or how particularly traumatic lifetime events may have a negative effect on twain adults and children when not properly processed.Likewise, Freuds ideas of sexual repression and displacement were influential in the growth and development of the surrealist school, which drew on the rich imagery of ones dreams, wishes, and fantasies to create their art. (West 185)One of the most notable surrealist painters, Frida Kahlo, has been a classic type of an artist whose works could be interpreted using Freudian concepts and ideas. Kahlos tumultuous life, characterized by wild sexual affairs with both mannish and female lovers, a devastating divorce, and her inability to conceive children due to a series of back operations were mostly found in the mass of her work which were fraught with symbolisms. (West 185)In her painting entitled Self Portrait with a Necklace, Kahlo painted her ego wearing a necklace of thorns and a dangling busyness bird, which alludes to her abjec t from divorce (as symbolized by the thorns) and to her quest for new love (as sh bear by the humming bird which is a traditional Mexican love amulet). (Erickson, 2005). In these self portraits,Kahlos entire life was envisioned in her paintings. She drew her protest birth, for instance, and many other events including those connected with her pain and frustration. (Levine 273) Her husband Diego Rivera was also depicted in many of her paintings in different ways in Frida and Diego Rivera (1931) which is supposititious to be a painting of their marriage, she paints him as a father-figure and herself as his daughter, which is reminiscent of Freuds Electra complex and reveals Kahlos insecurity at her take in husbands authority.In another painting Retablo (1943), she captures the scene of the accident that left field her under intense pain for most of her life (Kahlo and Kettenman 32) which she later depicts in Broken Column (1944) that graphically expresses her physical agony. (West 184)Psychoanalysis therefore plays an important map in understanding and unlocking many surrealist artwork. In Kahlos case, the artist has rendered her own physical suffering in the metaphoric sense, mostly through the use of portraiture, to something that is haunting and beautiful, and one which outlasts even the pain and suffering of Kahlos luxuriant soul.Works CitedErickson, R. (2005). Freudian thought and the surrealist world. Downloaded from Associated Content, The Peoples Media Company on marching 16, 2007 Kahlo, F. & A. Kettenman. (2000). Frida Kahlo 1907-1954 Pain and Passion. Taschen.Levine, M. P. (2000). Analytic Freud Philosophy and Psychoanalysis. United landed estate Routledge.West, S. (2004). Portraiture. United Kingdom Oxford University Press.