One hundred years ago today, Frida Kahlo was born. In Mexico, the occasion is being marked with the opening of the exhibition Treasures from the Blue House, Frida and Diego, featuring never-before-seen items locked away in trunks at Kahlo and husband Diego Rivera’s house, Casa Azul (now the Frida Kahlo Museum). The show includes 22,105 documents, 5,387 photos, 179 pieces of clothing and more than 6,000 magazines and books owned by Kahlo. Much of the material was locked away at Rivera’s request; he asked that her personal effects not be exhibited publicly for 15 years after her death in 1957. The AP reports:
But Dolores Olmedo, a patron of Rivera, kept them closed, believing the trunks could contain personal information that would compromise the couple’s image, said her son, Carlos Phillips Olmedo, who runs several museums, including The Blue House.
In 2004, a year after Olmedo’s death, curators opened the trunks.
Inside they found corsets Kahlo used to support her back, after she fractured it in a bus accident as a young girl.
Curators also found snippets reflecting Kahlo’s daily life, including a trolley car ticket with a scribbled note, a napkin stained with a lipstick kiss, letters from European artists and 102 never-before-seen drawings by Kahlo.
They also discovered 30 photos that Kahlo’s father, photographer Guillermo Kahlo, had taken of himself, possibly inspiring Kahlo’s self portraits which she used to deal with her accident, her tumultuous marriage and her inability to have children.
Closer to home, the Walker, in association with SFMOMA, is commemorating Kahlo’s birth year with the first American traveling Kahlo traveling exhibition in decades. Frida Kahlo will open at a preview party in Minneapolis on October 26. Curated by the Walker’s Betsy Carpenter and guest co-curator (and Kahlo’s official biographer) Hayden Herrera, it features some of Kahlo’s best known paintings, art her works inspired, and a room of photos from Kahlo’s personal albums, many never exhibited before. The show will travel to the Philadelphia Museum of Art this winter and SFMOMA next summer.
Above: Kahlo poses with Guadalupe Marin, onetime wife of Diego Rivera.
frida kahlo also cheated on diego rivera with another guy.
Comment by jackie — 7/6/2007 @ 1:50 pm
That’s true. The other guy was Lenin.
(She was also lovers with Nikolas Muray, who took some of the most iconic photos of Frida…)
Comment by Paul Schmelzer — 7/6/2007 @ 2:13 pm
[…] Why Frida Matters: Salomon Grimberg, one of five curators of the Frida Kahlo retrospective that opened at Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City last month: “She […]
Pingback by Off Center » Centerpoints 6.7 — 7/9/2007 @ 2:48 pm
No, it was not Lenin- it was Leon Trotsky.
Comment by Autumn — 7/16/2007 @ 11:23 am
D’oh! You’re right! Apologies…
Comment by Paul Schmelzer — 7/16/2007 @ 11:42 am
Does who a woman artist has a relationship infect what she puts out into the art world?
baby artist
coyote in drag
Comment by coyote blanco — 7/19/2007 @ 8:11 am
I do not think who a woman sleeps with has much to do with her art. Do you think in turn who a man sleeps with affect his work?
Also in fairness, Diego had many affairs while they were married. PBS had a great program on her life on TV 4 -5 years ago, that you can buy on DVD through PBS. I am very much looking forward to the show of her works!
Comment by Mary P. — 7/19/2007 @ 10:37 am
Frida was an artist who was honest and did not hide the many sides of her personality. Her paintings were her autobiography, and to date no one else has compared with her style nor painted “pain” as she did. Frida was a true genius that will be remembered because of her life work.
Comment by Pamela Carvajal Drapala — 9/5/2007 @ 11:11 pm
I’m a Fridaphile…did you know the “only” reason Madonna was not booted out of Buenos Aires while filming “Evita” was because the Argentinian President connected with Madonna’s love of Frida and they compared collections? }:~) (note the eyebrow…)
Comment by Sherry Ramirez — 9/7/2007 @ 7:36 pm
¿por qué importa esto con quién ella durmió o con quién Diego durmió?
¿no hemos dormido?
Ella merece mucho más materia para este genio Mexicana exótico
why does it matter who she slept with or who Diego slept with, haven’t we all slept?
She deserves much more subject matter for this exotic Mexicana genius
etta
Comment by etta — 9/8/2007 @ 10:25 am
The woman was and still is..fabulous. I am making both she and Maria Felix, my hobby. It is time I got in touch with my heritage.
Comment by Gumz — 9/9/2007 @ 11:03 pm
It was Frida who led the way to female self expression, very personal insights into the realities of life for women. Leading the way for Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, all giving voice to women. She released her pain and expressed her reality through healing art. One book I have read on the psychology of artists stated later in her life Frida had surgeries, not to improve her health, but to get Rivera to be more attentive to her…
Comment by Anne — 9/20/2007 @ 12:08 pm
WELL I THINK THAT FRIDA’S AND DIEGO’S ART WORK WAS AND STILL IS ONE OF THE BEST EVER DONE. I’M A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT DOING MY ART CONSENTRATION ON MY “HERITAGE” AND ALSO IN THE STYLE OF “DIGO RIVERA AND FRIDA” I THINK THEY ARE ONE OF THE BEST ARTIST AND I AM HONORED TO SAY THAT THEY WERE MEXICAN ARTISTS!!!!
Comment by MARIA — 9/28/2007 @ 10:25 am
And, Maria, how can we ever forget the powerful work by by Mexican artist, Orozco, who also had a profound impact on American art!!
Comment by Anne — 9/30/2007 @ 12:01 pm
As far as whether or not a sexual encounter has an effect on an artists work - I believe it does as it would have an effect on anyone. Who we meet in life does have an effect on our perspective…
Comment by Victoria — 10/10/2007 @ 8:47 pm
And as I recall - Frida’s “Little Nip” piece, which is so poignant, was in response to her sister, Christina, and Diego’s affair. That is what is so fascinating about art, especially Frida’s during her time period. A woman was actually expressing her anguish through her art. I love studying artist’s lives and looking at their work to see how it reflects these moments in their lives. That is what is so fun about Picasso - he’s so transparent - in the beginning his lovers are beautiful, delicate, little feminine things and they become tortured as the relationship continues…I think Frida and Diego were so dynamic together. They knew they couldn’t live together, but they needed each other to fuel their fire, their creativity.
Comment by Anne — 10/11/2007 @ 8:12 am
If anyone has an extra ticket to the opening night? I would greatly appreciate one.
Comment by Brandie — 10/15/2007 @ 9:58 pm
If anyone has two extra ticket? I would greatly appreciate thanks.
Comment by Margarita — 10/19/2007 @ 2:35 am
Frida has been the most exceptional artist of the last century. Her art is unique and enigmatic. I am so excited because most of her “obras maestras” are here. I would’ve liked that the Walker had brought her painting “Diego en mi mente” That “tehuana” dress is beautiful.
¡Viva Frida!
¡Viva México!
PAZ
Comment by oscar — 10/25/2007 @ 12:35 am
I’m reading Frida’s Diary and Carlos Fuentes’ introduction is a must read. He states -
In regard to the yin and yang of color and Frida and Diego’s and their connection to art - she said he captures color and she gives color. (which I think is so very, very true)
Kahlo’s response to how and why she creates such good art-
her love of surprise, her sense that frankness and intimacy were inseperable, her will to eliminate from her paintings all that did not originate in her own interior, lyrical impulses. “My themes,” she said, “are my sensations, my states of mind, my reaction to life.”
“Socrates, famous for his ugliness, asked us to close our eyes in order to see ‘our own internal beauty.’ Kahlo goes beyond Socratic demand to close our eyes and open them in a new way of seeing. Sight is the clearest of all senses, writes Plotinus, yet it is incapable of seeing the soul. And this is so, he adds, because if we were able to see the soul, it would awaken in us a terrible love, an intolerable love. Only beauty has the privilege of looking at the soul without being blinded.”
Happy birthday, Frida, as we celebrate your true essence in our own personal way,
Anne
Comment by Anne — 10/25/2007 @ 9:20 am
Hey, anyone that has an extra ticket to opening night would be more than greatly appreciated. Please email me! bdamsk@yahoo.com
Comment by Brandie Adams — 10/25/2007 @ 12:48 pm
what a mess the opening night was
maybe they should’ve charged twice the price and half the people
felt like I was in line for space mountain
if not it being Frida we would’ve left
etta
Comment by etta — 10/28/2007 @ 6:13 pm
That’s too bad. I hope that the other Frida Exhibitions aren’t that crowded. When we saw the Dead Sea Scrolls in San Diego, it was like that too. So many people and not enough space to hold them all. At least one thing we know, people are anxious her work. Pam - Yuma
Comment by pdrapala — 10/28/2007 @ 6:32 pm
We’re sorry about the crowding, but uou can use your After Hours ticket to visit the show during less busy times in the next few days. From the After Hours event page:
The limit on the number of people in the gallery at any given time is set by the fire marshal, and the Walker is bound to enforce the limit.
Comment by Justin Heideman — 10/28/2007 @ 7:34 pm
LOL space mountain Frida! It was too crowded, but I just had a blast checking out all the fabulous people with their creative and fabulous looks! My favorites were the three women who dressed as Frida’s portraits, complete with little parrots on the shoulders, the hummingbird/thorn necklace, and the white dress/heart from Two Fridas. Aplausos para las fridas! I will go back to see her work again without the crowds, but I enjoyed the happy vibe. Thanks!
Comment by Joanna — 10/28/2007 @ 9:56 pm
I waited months in anticipation of the Frida exhibit opening on Friday…what a disappointment. I never made it into the exhibit hall…too many lines…too many people…poorly organized by the Walker. It should be made clearer that the reason you get the extra viewing days is because you might not get into the exhibit at all!!!!! This was the first After Hours I have been to with the new renovation of the building, I miss the old parties when you did not have to crawl on top of people all night. Bummer. I know once I finally get into the exhibit I will love it. Also, Maria Isa’s performance helped salvage the night, she was great!!!!!
Comment by Julie Hovland — 10/29/2007 @ 11:21 am
Justin-
Glad to hear that you enforce the gallery limit because of the fire marshal, maybe you should try doing that with selling tickets to the event to start with. Just how many tickets were sold for the after hours? I heard 2,500.
etta
Comment by etta — 10/29/2007 @ 10:07 pm
I also thought the event was way overcrowded. I kept waiting for the line to the gallery to go down, but it never did. Finaly I got into the line and they said it would be half an hour before we got in, and it would close 15 minutes later. I am still hoping to see the exhibit, but finding the time to make it in the next five days will be nearly impossible. $66 seems like a lot of money to spend on two glasses of wine.
Comment by Ron — 10/29/2007 @ 10:14 pm
Yes, I agree. Don’t you just love those women who came before us–their voices screaming out through their poetry, paintings, and prose: Plath, Sexton, Nin, Kahlo, Parker, and Woolf? I thank God for all of them!
Comment by Kim Robinson — 10/31/2007 @ 12:45 pm
I saw a wonderful Frida Kahlo exhibit at San Francisco MOMA in 1996. It was not crowded at all! The art presentation was breathtaking. A friend who was with me had to leave partway through the afternoon, so we took her return-validated ticket-stub and gave it away to a person standing in line to buy a ticket, and they came right in. What a wonderful experience it was! I had never seen Frida’s artwork in person before, only in books and notecards. I hope they do as well with this new exhibit in 2008.
Comment by Evelyn — 11/4/2007 @ 5:22 pm
My friends and I thoroughly enjoyed the Frida exhibit last week — except for trying to read the plaques next to the pictures with my bifoculs and my 69-year-old eyes. It would be really helpful if the information could be enlarged and printed in bolder type. I wasn’t the only one almost falling over in order to read the information about the pictures. Otherwise, a most impressive exhibit.
Comment by Barb — 11/5/2007 @ 2:25 pm
I think frida kahlo is a wonderful woman, clever and ….special! she’s my hero!best wishes
Comment by shadowgirl — 12/16/2007 @ 1:41 pm