plato y frida kahlo:
depictions of pain through art
by meghan wagner
Plato’s feelings concerning art and poetry were clear through much of his writing, namely The Republic. In one dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon, Plato describes his distaste for the false emotions that artists and poets depict through their work. He believed that artists were imitating the true Forms through images. He says, “...his creations have an inferior degree of truth...and he is also like him in being concerned with an inferior part of the soul.” In regards to poetry, he condemned Homer and other tragedians for giving their audiences strong yet insincere emotions; insincere because the sorrow is not theirs. He says, “...he awakens and nourishes and strengthens the feelings and impairs the reason.” These false emotions harm the good, taking away from a well-ordered State. Artists and poets are able to stir such emotions in people because, as he puts it, “he lightly touches on a small part of them, and that part an image.” Of course, as is obviously shown through his theory of the Forms, Plato did not think highly of the image.
One of Frida Kahlo’s most well known paintings, “The Wounded Deer”, depicts her head on a deer with several arrows in its back. Surrounding the deer is a dark forest with a lightning filled sky, and the word “carma” appears in the lower left-hand corner, translating roughly to “destiny” or “fate”. “The Wounded Deer”, or “El venado herico” in its original Spanish, was painted in 1946 after Kahlo’s unsuccessful spinal surgery. Kahlo had hoped the surgery would relieve her from her severe, chronic back pain, and many have said that this painting expresses her sorrow over the failed surgery. For many people, the image of a fatally wounded deer is enough to convey feelings of sadness or pain. But a fatally wounded deer with a human face, Kahlo’s face, is especially troubling. The viewer of the painting is able to get a glimpse of Kahlo’s physical and emotional pain after her surgery, bringing feelings of sorrow and empathy. Some would say the painting even has existentialist themes, as Kahlo also depicts her frustration at not being able to change her destiny or fate. The deer in the painting was modeled after Kahlo’s own pet deer, Granizo, which among her other pets were described as her “surrogate children”, as she was unable to have children herself.
If Plato were to observe Kahlo’s wounded deer painting, he would not be pleased. He would most likely accuse her of impairing the judgement of people through her depictions of sorrow. “The Wounded Deer” stirs feelings of sympathy in many people, which Plato definitely understood. In The Republic, he says, “--the best of us, you know, delight in giving way to sympathy, and are in raptures at the excellence of the poet who stirs our feelings most.” But this, to Plato, was the ultimate sin of poets and artists. “And what will any one be profited if under the influence of honour or money or power, aye, or under the excitement of poetry, he neglect justice and virtue?” According to Plato, Kahlo is harming the good and jeopardizing the well-ordered State. Plato was very skeptical of the places for artists and poets in the state, and would have most likely argued for Kahlo’s work to be illegal in his so-called well-ordered State.
One of Frida Kahlo’s most well known paintings, “The Wounded Deer”, depicts her head on a deer with several arrows in its back. Surrounding the deer is a dark forest with a lightning filled sky, and the word “carma” appears in the lower left-hand corner, translating roughly to “destiny” or “fate”. “The Wounded Deer”, or “El venado herico” in its original Spanish, was painted in 1946 after Kahlo’s unsuccessful spinal surgery. Kahlo had hoped the surgery would relieve her from her severe, chronic back pain, and many have said that this painting expresses her sorrow over the failed surgery. For many people, the image of a fatally wounded deer is enough to convey feelings of sadness or pain. But a fatally wounded deer with a human face, Kahlo’s face, is especially troubling. The viewer of the painting is able to get a glimpse of Kahlo’s physical and emotional pain after her surgery, bringing feelings of sorrow and empathy. Some would say the painting even has existentialist themes, as Kahlo also depicts her frustration at not being able to change her destiny or fate. The deer in the painting was modeled after Kahlo’s own pet deer, Granizo, which among her other pets were described as her “surrogate children”, as she was unable to have children herself.
If Plato were to observe Kahlo’s wounded deer painting, he would not be pleased. He would most likely accuse her of impairing the judgement of people through her depictions of sorrow. “The Wounded Deer” stirs feelings of sympathy in many people, which Plato definitely understood. In The Republic, he says, “--the best of us, you know, delight in giving way to sympathy, and are in raptures at the excellence of the poet who stirs our feelings most.” But this, to Plato, was the ultimate sin of poets and artists. “And what will any one be profited if under the influence of honour or money or power, aye, or under the excitement of poetry, he neglect justice and virtue?” According to Plato, Kahlo is harming the good and jeopardizing the well-ordered State. Plato was very skeptical of the places for artists and poets in the state, and would have most likely argued for Kahlo’s work to be illegal in his so-called well-ordered State.