Frida Kahlo's self-portraits defied pain and tradition

Frida Kahlo, the iconic Mexican artist, transformed her profound personal suffering and identity into powerful self-portraits. Roughly one-third of her 143 paintings were self-portraits, serving as a visual diary of her life's hardships. A devastating 1925 bus accident left her with chronic pain, which she depicted symbolically in works like *The Broken Column*, showing a cracked spine and nails piercing her body.