Many great artists had traumatic experiences and later transformed these encounters into their works of art.
While writing this post on the 18th of July, 2021, I think about two geniuses: Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol. I already mentioned one of Frida Kahlo’s paintings in the post entitled “Broken Column.” I wrote that when I see this painting, I feel imagined pain that somehow moves from head to toe. It appeared that the “Broken Column” painting was only the tip of the iceberg. Frida Kahlo painted many others artworks describing her traumatic experiences. These events were primarily those connected with a terrible road accident that occurred when Frida was eighteen. A “Broken Column” painting is one of the many echoes that later appeared in her works because the horrific road accident changed her life forever. Another echo of this tragic event was that a female Mexican painter could not bear a child. She had several miscarriages and at least three therapeutic abortions.
On the other hand, Andy Warhol had one traumatic experience.
In 1968, a radical feminist shot an American artist in his studio. Bullets penetrated Warhol’s liver, lungs, throat, and stomach. Surgeons battled to save his life. He has revived only thanks to receiving an open-heart massage. This horrific occurrence had a profound effect on Warhol’s art. Since this event, he focused on the inevitability of death and mortality. Hearts, skulls, and other bodily organs began to feature in his paintings and prints.
The truth is that I also had a traumatic experience. When I was nine years old, my elder Brother died. I wrote about it in one of my first sets of pictures, named “Farewell.” I believe that coming back to such events helps us to cope with them. Moreover, I hope that horrific events have more meaning and sense than we think about it for the first time.
