Frida Kahlo and Joy Hester During the 1940s and 1950s one can see the emergence of a strong female artistic influence using the examples of Joy Hester and Frida Kahlo. While Kahlo was recognized during her lifetime as a brilliant independent artist for her personal and innovative style, Hester was not. It was only after his death in 1960 that his art was truly celebrated in Australian exhibitions. Hester and Kahlo both attended art schools in the 1920s and 1930s; for this reason they share many of the same basic artistic influences. Surrealism played an important role in the development of their art, especially in Kahlo's works which are often associated with surrealism. Expressionism was another influence they shared, but it played a minor role in their art as it only began to develop in the 1950s. Both these movements and those that preceded them were dominated by men and as such, it was the male conditioning of the time that dictated the inadequacy of women to paint their own lives, yet this is exactly what these women did. It is this autobiographical nature of their work that makes them artists not only similar but also innovative, challenging the conceptions of the time. Their husbands were both influential and successful artists, yet these women maintained their independence, and these common influences created two artists who made advances in the women's art movement. As far as the art world goes, Hester and Kahlo's influences were very similar, however in geographic location. world could not have been further apart, and these local influences are evident, especially in Kahlo's use of Mexican and Aztec symbols. 'Self-Portrait with Monkeys', 1943, demonstrates Kahl's heavy use of traditional symbols... medium of paper... unity in itself. These vines also resemble a net, connecting to Kahlo's use of nature and nature symbols in her art. The vine-like web suggests the nature of the spider's web, in which the much larger female consumes the smaller male or smaller flies. Each of them is a vital element for the spider's survival, just as Diego was for Kahlo. These women challenged the boundaries of a male-dominated era in producing autobiographical works that included controversial subjects (themselves, among other things) and combined new artistic styles. . They fought against preconceptions around them and in their personal lives to continue painting until their untimely death due to illness. Frida Kahlo and Joy Hester are inspiring artists who painted beautiful and innovative paintings, making advancements in the women's art movement.