...But The Bastards Learned How To Swim is our one-liner of the weekend
There is nothing more satisfying than nailing a killer one liner. It happens all the time on film – Bogart drawls them with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth, the Bonds shrug them out while walking away from a newly dead body in the bath, Woody Allen babbles his witticisms with anxiety fuelled fluency, Mae West makes them purr. But it's harder in real life, without a scriptwriter to hand or a director yelling, "cut, reset" if it doesn't quite work. It's therefore safer to use other people's best lines, and, if concerned about delivery, forgo practising them in the mirror and instead hang them on the wall. Such is the case with one of Frida Kahlo's killer lines,"I Tried To Drown My Sorrows But The Bastards Learned How To Swim" – here rendered as a enviable work of art by the Connor Brothers, and loved by Daisy Woodward.
Frida Kahlo had a lot of good lines. Her life has been gone over ad infinitum, in words, on film, in scurrilous rumours about her personal life, in extensive and rapturously received exhibitions of her work, but through the mists of conjecture and assumption she continues to burn bright, a vivid force of originality and empowerment. Despite the many challenges that thrust themselves in her path – illness, her husband's infidelity – she remained stalwart, positive. “Nothing is worth more than laughter," she wrote in her diary. "It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.” So even while the bastard sorrows were swimming around her, she kept smiling. An icon for a reason.
This weekend, whether at weddings, Glastonbury or heading off on an adventure, we could all do with some good one liners, so while we work on some Frida-inspired wit, Woodward talks through her reasons for picking this marvellous artwork.
Why did you love this picture?
I love the 50s book cover format, the glamour in her despair and the drama of the quote.
Where would you keep it?
I think this is a sitting room print – one to have near the drinks cabinet (when I have one). And you can buy them – with proceeds going to the brilliant House of St Barnabas charity.
What lines do you live by?
I love the Sylvia Plath quote about writing and creating – "Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." And for more gloomy days, the Matisse quote, "There are always flowers for those who wish to see them."
Which is your favourite Frida?
All Fridas – she was the most inspiring woman and artist. But I love the photographs of her dressed up in men's clothing; she rocked a suit.
Who is your heroine?
Kate Bush.
What is your favourite film oneliner?
I think Joe E. Brown's "Nobody's perfect" at the end of Some Like it Hot when Jack Lemmon has just revealed his true gender is genius.
What are you looking forward to for summer?
My best friend Harriet's wedding, which is tomorrow!
What is the last thing you bought?
A pair of black Birkenstocks in Germany – it felt appropriate.
Read more about Frida Kahlo on AnOther – from her extraordinary love letters and menagerie of pets to stunning images of her personal possessions.
