At just 18, a near-fatal bus collision shattered Frida Kahlo's spine, collarbone, and pelvis, and launched one of the most singular artistic voices of the 20th century. Confined to bed for months, she taught herself to paint using a mirror mounted above her easel, turning physical anguish into raw, unapologetic self-portraiture. Frida Kahlo completed roughly 55 self-portraits across her lifetime, weaving Mexican folk tradition, pre-Columbian symbolism, and surrealist imagery into canvases that refused to look away from pain, identity, and the female body. Her tumultuous marriage to muralist Diego Rivera and her lifelong medical struggles fed work that felt intimate yet politically charged. Museums from Mexico City to New York now display her paintings as feminist touchstones, and her image remains a global symbol of resilience. She died in 1954 at 47, but her art grows louder with every generation.