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Human heart as a symbol of sorrow and pain: Happy Valentines Day!
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Human heart is not only a vital organ but also one of the most widely used universal symbols in human history.
Apart from love and gentle emotions, Heart symbolises also pain and sorrow.
And this double symbolism of human heart is given perfectly in “The Two Fridas”, by Frida Kahlo (1939). This painting was completed shortly after her divorce with Diego Riviera. This portrait shows Frida’s two different personalities. One is the traditional Frida in Tehuana costume, with a broken heart, sitting next to an independent, modern dressed Frida, under the stormy and cloudy sky.
The two Fridas are holding hands and they both have visible hearts.The heart of the traditional Frida is cut and torn open. The main artery, which comes from the torn heart down to the right hand of the traditional Frida, is cut off by the surgical pincers held in the lap of the traditional Frida. The blood keeps dripping on her white dress and she is in danger of bleeding to death. The artist has admitted it expressed her desperation and loneliness with the separation from Diego.
Happy Valentines Day!
“The Two Fridas”
Frida Kahlo (1939)
