Editing Frida Kahlo (section)

=== Later years ===
{{external media
| image1 = [https://www.fridakahlo.org/the-broken-column.jsp ''The Broken Column'' (1944)]
| image2 = [https://www.wikiart.org/en/frida-kahlo/moses-1945 ''Moses'' (1945)]
| image3 = [https://www.fridakahlo.org/without-hope.jsp ''Without Hope'' (1945)]
| image4 = [https://www.wikiart.org/en/frida-kahlo/tree-of-hope-remain-strong-1946 ''Tree of Hope, Stand Fast'' (1946)]}}
Even as Kahlo was gaining recognition in Mexico, her health was declining rapidly, and an attempted surgery to support her spine failed.{{sfn|Herrera|2002|pp=344–359}} Her paintings from this period include ''Broken Column'' (1944), ''Without Hope'' (1945), ''Tree of Hope, Stand Fast'' (1946), and ''[[The Wounded Deer]]'' (1946), reflecting her poor physical state.{{sfn|Herrera|2002|pp=344–359}} During her last years, Kahlo was mostly confined to the Casa Azul.{{sfnm|1a1=Kettenmann|1y=2003|1p=79|2a1=Herrera|2y=2002|2p=389–400}} She painted mostly [[still lifes]], portraying fruit and flowers with political symbols such as flags or doves.{{sfnm|1a1=Kettenmann|1y=2003|1pp=79–80|2a1=Herrera|2y=2002|2pp=397–398}} She was concerned about being able to portray her political convictions, stating that "I have a great restlessness about my paintings. Mainly because I want to make it useful to the revolutionary communist movement... until now I have managed simply an honest expression of my own self&nbsp;... I must struggle with all my strength to ensure that the little positive my health allows me to do also benefits the Revolution, the only real reason to live."{{sfn|Kettenmann|2003|p=80}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lahojadearena.com/frida-kahlo-pinturas-autorretrato-las-dos-fridas/ |title=Frida Kahlo Pinturas, autorretratos y sus significados |last=Galicia |first=Fernando |date=22 November 2018 |website=La Hoja de Arena |access-date=13 May 2019 |archive-date=9 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309001601/https://www.lahojadearena.com/frida-kahlo-pinturas-autorretrato-las-dos-fridas/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> She also altered her painting style: her brushstrokes, previously delicate and careful, were now hastier, her use of color more brash, and the overall style more intense and feverish.{{sfnm|1a1=Kettenmann|1y=2003|1p&nbsp;p=79–80|2a1=Herrera|2y=2002|2pp=398–399}}

Photographer [[Lola Alvarez Bravo]] understood that Kahlo did not have long to live, and thus staged her first solo exhibition in Mexico at the Galería Arte Contemporaneo in April 1953.{{sfnm|1a1=Zamora|1y=1990|1p=138|2a1=Herrera|2y=2002|2pp=405–410|3a1=Burrus|3y=2005|3p=206}} Though Kahlo was initially not due to attend the opening, as her doctors had prescribed bed rest for her, she ordered her four-poster bed to be moved from her home to the gallery. To the surprise of the guests, she arrived in an ambulance and was carried on a stretcher to the bed, where she stayed for the duration of the party.{{sfnm|1a1=Zamora|1y=1990|1p=138|2a1=Herrera|2y=2002|2pp=405–410|3a1=Burrus|3y=2005|3p=206}} The exhibition was a notable cultural event in Mexico and also received attention in mainstream press around the world.{{sfn|Herrera|2002|pp=405–410}} The same year, the [[Tate Britain|Tate Gallery]]'s exhibition on Mexican art in London featured five of her paintings.{{sfn|Burrus|2005|p=223}}

In 1954, Kahlo was again hospitalized in April and May.{{sfn|Zamora|1990|p=138}} That spring, she resumed painting after a one-year interval.{{sfn|Herrera|2002|pp=412–430}} Her last paintings include the political ''[[Marxism]] Will Give Health to the Sick'' (c. 1954) and ''Frida and [[Stalin]]'' (c. 1954) and the still-life ''Viva La Vida'' (1954).{{sfnm|1a1=Zamora|1y=1990|1p=130|2a1=Kettenmann|2y=2003|2pp=80–82}}