VOA标准英语2012--Photos Offer Insight into Artist Frida Kahlo

Photos Offer Insight¹ into Artist Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo, who died in 1954, is one of Mexico's best-known artists. She was the subject of the 2002 movie "Frida" starring Salma Hayek. 

The 240 photos in the new exhibit at Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia, were chosen from more than 6,000 discovered recently in the home Kahlo shared with her husband, Diego Rivera. 

Only four are known to have been taken by the artist herself, including one of her dog and a portrait of her nephew.

“She actually wrote on the back of the photo: Frida Kahlo,” says Cynthia Connolly, Artisphere’s visual arts curator. 

Connolly is taken with an image by Kahlo called “Mexican Toys.”

“It’s almost like a horse-drawn cart, where the horse is topsy-turvy and the person is on the ground," she says. "It makes me wonder if she is depicting² her own accident in some Mexican toys.”

Frida’s bus accident, dramatized in the movie "Frida," caused severe injuries to her spine³.

In the exhibit, several images show her in a hospital. 

“You can tell she had pain most of her life," Connolly says. "She was continually having surgeries to try and relieve her of that pain."

Other photos show family and friends, including photographer Nickolas Muray.

"What you see in his studio is very interesting, because with the magnifying⁴ glass, you can actually see there's a portrait of Frida Kahlo on the wall," Connolly says.

There are also self-portraits of her father, who was a professional photographer.

“There are about 20 self-portraits of her father, very formal photographs," Connolly says. "They lead us to believe that possibly her father was a great influence on her art.”

Frida collected photographs by other artists such as Man Ray. 

“When you look through this exhibit, I wonder what she saved and why she saved it. Was she planning on using it for a painting?”

We may never know.

1 insight   

n.洞察力，洞悉，深刻的见解

参考例句：

• Good teachers have insight into the problems of students.好的教师能洞察学生的问题。
• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。

2 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

3 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

4 magnifying   

放大的

参考例句：

• Fame is a magnifying-glass. 名誉是放大镜。
• It is unusual for people to press their differences by magnifying them. 对人们来说，以夸大差异的方式强调差异是不正常的。