Frida Kahlo – Her Photos

For fans of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, an exhibit of her photographs opening Oct. 31 at the Heard Museum is a window to her worldview, to the people she loved, to her passions and to the pain she suffered nearly constantly throughout her life. For those introducing themselves to Kahlo’s legacy, “Frida Kahlo: Her Photos” is a window into the soul of one of the 20th century’s most intriguing artists.

The exhibit, curated by Mexican photographer and photography historian Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, reflects the interest that Kahlo (1907-1954) had in her colorful but pain-filled life: “…her family, her fascination for [Diego] Rivera and her other loves, her broken body and medical science, her friends and some enemies, the political struggle and art, indigenous people and the pre-Columbian past – all coated in the great passion she had for Mexico and for the Mexicans.”

The 241 photographs, taken by Tina Modotti, Edward Weston, Nickolas Muray, Lola Alvarez Bravo and others, were chosen from a collection of 6,500 images that are part of an archive at Casa Azul, or the Blue House, where Kahlo lived. These photos were cherished by Kahlo when she was immobilized and isolated in her bed.

Kahlo had a very special relationship with photography. Besides her personal background – both her father, Guillermo Kahlo, and her maternal grandfather were professional photographers – she brought different uses to photography. She collected daguerreotypes and visiting cards (carte de visite in French or tarjeta de visita in the original) from the 19th century. She kept photographs upon which she put her personal stamp, cutting things out from them, writing dedications on them and personalizing them as if they were paintings.

Some of the images have red lipstick kisses, others are trimmed or folded. Some photographs have personal notations on the reverse. These images give visitors an intimate view of Kahlo’s life.

The photographs are organized into six main subjects: The Origins; The Blue House; Politics, Revolutions and Diego; Her Broken Body; Frida’s Loves and Photography. The images throw new light on Frida Kahlo’s work as an artist, a way of understanding her life in historical and cultural context, and a demonstration of her passion for Mexico.

(left) Frida at the age of 5, Anonymous, 1912, Frida Kahlo Museum
(middle) Frida Kahlo, by Guillermo Kahlo, 1926, Frida Kahlo Museum
(right) Frida Kahlo, by Guillermo Kahlo, 1932, Frida Kahlo Museum

(left) Frida painting the portrait of her father, by Gisèle Freund, 1951, Frida Kahlo Museum
(right) Frida Kahlo with the doctor Juan Farill, by Gisèle Freund, 1951, Frida Kahlo Museum

Frida Kahlo: Her Photos
Heard Museum / Edward Jacobson Gallery
Oct. 31, 2015 – Feb. 8, 2016