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

One of the nigh influential social scientists of his time, Sigmund Freud and his theories on analytic thinking remains relevant today in the study of human personality and the bias 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 existences inner almost desire, were in detail borrowed by artists ascribing to surrealism who sought to imprint the subconscious. Surrealist motion pictures argon thus characterized with the use of symbols and often guard a dreamlike quality to them, where cannot everlastingly be taken at brass section value or by genuine 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 system on how personalities are developed which revolves virtually the main ideas of id, ego, and superego, have, for instance, been used to explain how end up and libido may be transfo rmed into other(a) forms of energies, or how particularly traumatic feeling events may have a blackball effect on both adults and children when not properly processed.Likewise, Freuds ideas of sexual repression and rendering were influential in the growth and tuition of the surrealist school, which drew on the rich imaginativeness of whizs dreams, wishes, and fantasies to create their art. (West 185)One of the most notable surrealist painters, Frida Kahlo, has been a classic compositors case of an artist whose works could be construe using Freudian concepts and ideas. Kahlos turbulent life, characterized by wild sexual personal business with both male and female lovers, a devastating divorce, and her inability to conceive children payable to a series of back trading operations were more often than not found in the bulk of her work which were fraught with symbolisms. (West 185)In her painting empower Self Portrait with a Necklace, Kahlo multicolor her ego wearing a neck lace of thorns and a wall hanging humming bird, which alludes to her suffering from divorce (as symbolized by the thorns) and to her quest for new love (as shown by the humming bird which is a traditionalistic Mexican love amulet). (Erickson, 2005). In these self portraits,Kahlos entire life was depict in her paintings. She drew her own birth, for instance, and some other events including those connected with her pain and frustration. (Levine 273) Her keep up Diego Rivera was also depicted in umpteen of her paintings in different ways in Frida and Diego Rivera (1931) which is supposed 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 own maintains authority.In another painting Retablo (1943), she captures the facial expression of the accident that left her under enthusiastic pain for most of her life (Kahlo and Kettenman 32) which she ulterio r depicts in Broken Column (1944) that diagrammatically expresses her tangible agony. (West 184)Psychoanalysis therefore plays an important routine 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 troubled soul.Works CitedErickson, R. (2005). Freudian thought and the surrealist world. Downloaded from Associated Content, The stacks Media Company on demo 16, 2007 Kahlo, F. & A. Kettenman. (2000). Frida Kahlo 1907-1954 Pain and Passion. Taschen.Levine, M. P. (2000). Analytic Freud Philosophy and Psychoanalysis. unify Kingdom Routledge.West, S. (2004). Portraiture. United Kingdom Oxford University Press.