In order to understand great art, we also need to understand the artist ... and this is certainly the case with the work of Frida Kahlo. Her self-portraits are a stark portrayal of despair, solace and suffering and, to discover the inspiration for those emotions, we need to look at her life. She began painting as a young girl whilst recovering from severe life-changing injuries she had sustained in a traffic accident. Despite months of convalescing, she never completely recovered from these injuries and spent much of the rest of her life in crippling pain. She also suffered greatly on an emotional level as a result of her turbulent relationship with the Mexican painter, Diego Rivera, who had numerous affairs throughout their marriage. Although she longed to have a child, her two pregnancies ended in miscarriages and profound misery too. The way in which these experiences were reflected in her art can be seen in one of her most famous paintings, 'The Two Fridas'. In this work, Kahlo painted two versions of herself, each with a visible heart. One of the Fridas is dressed in a European style white dress and her heart—which is clearly visible—is intact. She is holding a pair of surgical scissors in her hand and there are spots of blood all over her dress. The second Frida is dressed in traditional colourful Tehuana costume and her heart is torn because the main artery has been cut.