Frida Kahlo

The iconic Mexican painter as seen through almost 300 archival items, from her wardrobe to her personal art collection

This compendium presents the rich diversity of themes, ideas, concepts and emotions generated around two fundamental, iconic figures of modern Mexico: painter Frida Kahlo and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera.

More than 300 images from the archives of the Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City offer readers a glimpse of Kahlo’s distinctive wardrobe and the impressive collections of popular and pre-Hispanic art she assembled with Rivera, her connection with photography and the history of La casa azul, her beloved blue home that now serves as the museum’s main building. This volume welcomes us into Frida Kahlo’s universe, exploring the legacy of an indispensable figure in the world of 20th-century art and culture in her native Mexico and across the globe.

Frida Kahlo (1907–54) began painting at the age of 18 when she was immobilized for several months as a result of a bus crash that left her permanently disabled. From then on, art served as an immense source of healing for Kahlo as well as a vehicle for self-expression and cultural exploration. At the heart of Kahlo’s practice was her love for Mexican folk tradition, her staunch communist beliefs and her complex relationship with her body, gender and sexuality. A lifelong activist, Kahlo died of a pulmonary embolism after participating in a demonstration against the CIA’s invasion of Guatemala.