For most of her life, Kahlo lived at her family home, La Casa Azul (blue house), in Coyoacán, on the outskirts of Mexico City. Although she led a cosmopolitan lifestyle and traveled the world, she always returned to La Casa Azul. Within the private courtyard of its cobalt-blue walls, Kahlo and Rivera kept a menagerie of monkeys, dogs, cats, a deer, and rabbits. La Casa Azul was a cultural hub for Mexico’s artistic circles. Intellectuals, politicians, patrons, and artists gathered there among the home’s pre-Hispanic art and beautiful gardens for conversation and artistic exchange. Today it is the Museo Frida Kahlo.
Attributed to Diego Rivera
Mexican, 1886–1957
Frida Kahlo in Her Garden in Coyoacán, about 1930
Gelatin silver print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: A black and white portrait of Frida Kahlo standing in an outdoor setting. Kahlo stands on right, in three quarter view, facing left. She wears a traditional style Mexican short sleeved blouse and print full skirt. An embroidered tie or belt drapes over her left arm and hangs until out of view. In her hand she holds a cigarette. Her hair is swept back from her face and a large flower wreath adorns her head. Her gaze is cast downward, and she wears a slight smile. Behind her, a stone archway frames Kahlo before joining a thick stone pillar on the left side of the photo. Sunlight shines on Kahlo and dark diagonal shadows are cast on the pillar. A small carved stone face with a headdress tops the pillar. A window and vegetation can be seen beyond the pillar and stone arch.]
Héctor García
Mexican, 1923–2012
Frida Kahlo with Xoloitzcuintle Dog, 1952
Gelatin silver print
New York, Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: Frida lounges lies on a bed with her arms wrapped around a small hairless dog in this tightly cropped photograph. She is on her side with her right ear resting on a pillow. Her eyes and lips are closed. She has a loose fitting sweater over her shoulder and her left arm and wears a long black skirt that extends out of the photograph. The dog is in front of her chest, with its head resting in the crook of her right elbow. Her left hand is over her right hand and each of her fingers has a large ring on it, she is also wearing nail polish. The dog is hairless except for a few whiteish hairs on its head near the eyes. It has erect, pointy ears and a small nose. There are slight wrinkles at its neck and hips. The surface on which they are lying is full of textiles. There is lace in the foreground, an embroidered blanket in the front of her skirts and more white sheets and fringed patterned blankets behind her.]
Héctor García
Mexican, 1923–2012
Frida with Rabbit, 1948
Gelatin silver print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: A black and white photograph of Frida Kahlo sitting in the sunlight holding a white rabbit with stark shadows across the photo. She’s seated with her head in her right hand, her gaze downward. Her left arm is holding the white rabbit in her lap. Frida is wearing a black loose fitting top and gray skirts or blankets over her legs. The lower left corner of the photograph is completely dark from the cast shadows which also causes dark lines across her face and body. Her neck and the rabbit are the brightest areas of the entire photograph in the bright sunshine.]
Juan Guzmán
Mexican, 1911–1982
Frida with Two Birds, about 1940
Platinum print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: A black and white photograph of Frida Kahlo holding two birds; she is standing in an interior doorway on a wooden floor with a paneled wall behind her. To her right is a display case with five sculptures of small figures. She is wearing a busy floral patterned long black dress with a white lace ruffle on the bottom of the dress. She has a long shawl wrapped around her, that goes almost to the hem of the dress, it’s similar to the color of her skin. She has her dark hair up in braids wrapping around her head, earrings that dangle, and a big rectangle shaped necklace with a thick metal chain. She is intently looking at the birds in her hands. In her right hand she holds a white bird, and on her left hand perches a white bird with black feathers on its back.]
Lola Álvarez Bravo
Mexican, 1903–1993
Frida in Bedroom, 1945
Gelatin silver print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: This black and white photo shows Frida Kahlo seated at a dressing table in her bedroom, striking a casual pose with one arm resting on the tabletop and the other cradling her chin. One finger extends up to touch her cheek. She looks directly at the viewer with her body facing forward and her head inclined slightly to the left. On the wall in the far left is a landscape painting. An ornate floor stand with a tilted frame sits next to it and a picture in a floral-shaped frame is positioned on the wall on the other side. A large vase of flowers sits atop the doily-covered tabletop with a lamp and its leaf-patterned shade directly behind the vase. Kahlo’s traditional dress has a patterned bodice and the full, dark, plain skirt protrudes out to the left side.]
Bernard Silberstein
American, 1905–1999
Frida with Objects on Shelves, about 1940
Gelatin silver print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: A black and white photograph of Kahlo standing next to a shelving unit crowded with statuettes, bric-a-brac, and small art objects. The wide set of shelves fills the center of the photo and stands chin height to Kahlo. She rests her right hand on one of shelves while looking towards the viewer. She is dressed in a traditional Mexican full gathered skirt, a short sleeve blouse and apron, all in contrasting patterns. At far left, on the other end of the shelves, stands a Judas figure sculpture: a human-like figure with a broad chest, long legs clad in overalls and a tiny head of resembling Kahlo wearing a small derby. Fireworks tubes and wires cross the figure. It towers a couple of feet higher than Kahlo herself. A portion of a large painting is seen hanging over the shelves along with small paintings on either side of it. In the lower left corner, a spherical metallic shape, possibly a lamp adding light to the scene is visible. A doorway appears next to Kahlo at far right.]
Fritz Henle
German, 1909–1993
Frida in Her Studio, 1943
Gelatin silver print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: A black and white photograph of Frida sitting at an easel in her studio. She is centered in the photograph completely surrounded by furniture, paintings, supplies and small figurines. She is wearing a dark short sleeved shirt called a huipil, and a long white skirt with an apron draped across her lap. On the wall behind her is a painting of hers that has two seated Frida’s holding hands. There are also two mirrors on that wall. Beneath the painting and mirrors are three tiered shelves with small sculptural figurines. There is also a Frida self-portrait in an altar. The high ceilinged room is crowded with furniture. Dressers, tables, chairs and all the surfaces are covered with objects – art supplies, notebooks and baskets. There are two jute rugs on the wood floors and one fluorescent light hanging above Frida.]
Lucienne Bloch
Swiss, 1909–1999
Frida at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel, 1933
Gelatin silver print
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
Bloch met Kahlo and Rivera during their first stay in New York, in 1931, and the three became close friends. They returned to the city in 1933, when Bloch took this photo of Kahlo seated below her Self-Portrait with Necklace, which she had recently completed.
[Artwork Description: A black and white photo of Frida Kahlo seated in a chair beneath a painted self-portrait. She is in the lower half of the photo at bottom right, with the small framed photo slightly askew and nearly cropped off the top of the photo near the center. In the painted portrait she is wearing a white scoop neck top and a dark chunky necklace with her hair pulled back and has dark, prominent eyebrows. The seated Kahlo is also wearing a white scoop neck blouse that is tucked into a dark long skirt. She wears a dark chunky necklace, and her hair is pulled back low at the nape of her neck. Her arms are extended out on the chair arms. She’s looking directly at the camera with a neutral gaze.]
Florence Arquin
American, 1900–1974
Frida Kahlo, Chicago, 1941
Gelatin silver print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: A black and white photographic portrait of Frida Kahlo seated outdoors with an urban skyline behind her. She is shown from the waist up with her body at a slight angle to the camera, looking to her right, squinting into the sunlight. She is wearing a patterned huipil that has a dark center panel and short sleeves with a small pattern and a checkered vertical border. She has large bows atop her head and an earring dangling from her visible left ear. There are some steps behind her on the right and a flat deck with a flower box behind her to the left. The skyscrapers extend vertically out of the shot.]
Nickolas Muray
American, born Hungary, 1892–1965
Frida on the Roof Deck of Nick’s Flat, 1946
Carbon print
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
[Artwork Description: A vertical color photograph of Frida Kahlo seated in front of a partial brick wall with part of the New York skyline behind her. The center of the frame is nearly filled by Kahlo, with a hazy blue sky behind her head and shoulders, the brick wall crossing behind her in the mid section and a grouted brick tile surface in the lower portion of the frame. Kahlo is wearing a floor-length full skirt of medium blue wrinkled fabric. It has a wide strip of white lace border at the bottom, about six inches high, that includes a repeated floral pattern. Another narrower strip, about 1 inch high, band of lace with a horizontal dual zigzag pattern is located midway up the skirt. Two thin bands of white trim are above the larger bottom band of lace, with another two above the upper band of lace, along with one more below it. Her hands are placed palms-down on her lap with a cigarette held in her left hand. Her fingernails are painted pink. Her short-sleeved red blouse is patterned with fingertip-sized white circles and ovals of free-formed appearance. Its curved, collarless round neckline is edged with a ribbon of fabric with a geometric pattern of soft yellow and black. Three much wider fabric ribbons form concentric “u” shapes with squared corners on the front of the blouse. They include geometric patterns in the same colors. She is wearing a choker necklace with small silver beads on the back half and slightly larger red beads in the front. A large silver brooch-shaped piece with sculpted details comprises the front of the necklace. A final small embellishment hangs just below the larger piece. The silver earrings are circular shaped with a small open area at the top with some additional decoration at the bottom. Kahlo’s face is angled slightly to her right. Her dark hair is center-parted and pulled back. Two large bows of silver fabric are atop her head. The composition of the picture appears to be outdoors, suggesting that the setting may be a patio or rooftop of a high-rise building with just the tops of other buildings showing in the background.]
Bernice Kolko
American, born Poland, 1905–1970
Frida Kahlo with Teresa Proenza, 1952
Gelatin silver print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: Gelatin silver print of Frida laying on a bed with Teresa Proenza laying next to her. Frida wears an elegant black long sleeve dress with a long pleated skirt. The front of the waist of the dress has a gray pleated section that fans out with a black border and silver stitching at the edge. A long beaded necklace with strands of blank black cord and three beads on the end lays on her chest and falls down her side. Her black lace sleeve falls gently past her wrist as she raises her ring-filled hand to smoke. Her black hair is braided into an intricate crown with a light strip of fabric and a metal headband. She gazes into the distance with a pensive look on her face. Teresa lays on her left side, her body pressed against Frida’s. Her black lace shirt and light colored pleated shirt are barely visible. She has dark hair and dark lipstick. She looks towards the end of the bed, eyelids nearly closed. They lay on a gray speckled blanket and Frida rests her head on a light and dark checkered pillow. There is a white wall behind their heads with a dark double door with thin metal bars over it behind their legs.]
Diego Rivera
Mexican, 1886–1957
Emmy Lou Packard and Frida Kahlo in Coyoacán, 1941
Gelatin silver print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
Packard was an American artist who worked as an assistant to Rivera while he painted the Pan American Unity mural in San Francisco. She later moved to Mexico City and became Kahlo’s confidante.
[Artwork Description: Square black and white photo of Emmy Lou Packard standing with Frida Kahlo, arms around each other as they lean against a white wall. Emmy Lou stands on the left side of the frame. She has light skin and blond hair that is parted in the middle, braided, with the braid wrapped up around the top of her head with fabric woven in. She has dark eyes, a thin long nose, small ears, and a tight lipped, gentle smile. She’s wearing a light-colored blouse with an overlapping collar that has two sets of buttons, six on each side. The right button on the second row is missing. There are small pockets with single buttons just under each collarbone. The shirt has a rounded bottom and is rippled under the breast line. A tall plant with thin stalks and long oval shaped leaves extend to the top of the frame. One leaf extends over her head. Frida stands next to her, possibly down a step. She has light brown skin and long dark hair that is parted in the middle, braided, with the braid wrapped up around the top of her head with fabric woven in and a thin silver clip on the left side. She has dark eyes and is looking downward to the right and has long, thick eyebrows. Her lips are closed and she has a solemn expression. Her neck is extended and she is wearing a dark shirt with white polka dots and a gray sweater with large fabric buttons, tiny pockets, and a ribbed neckline.]
Lola Álvarez Bravo
Mexican, 1903–1993
María Izquierdo by Her Painting, 1946
Gelatin silver print
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
Maria Izquierdo and Frida Kahlo were contemporaries and perhaps the most prominent female painters in Mexico in the mid-twentieth century. Known for their portraiture and their still-life paintings, both artists created a distinctive visual language that was deeply personal but incorporated rich references to popular Mexican culture and traditions.
[Artwork Description: In this high-contrast portrait, a female figure (the artist, Maria Izquierdo) is shown from midchest up with her body turned slightly to the left. Her shoulders and part of her chest almost fill the lower half the frame while the background is visible in the upper part of the picture, flanking the her head. Her hair is pulled back showing an expanse of forehead and the suggestion of a bun in the back. The right side of her face is in shadow while the rest of the face is highly lit. Her eyes are downcast and her lips are closed in a stern, down-turned expression. She is wearing a multistrand beaded necklace that rests on her white ruffled blouse. There is a glimpse of her left arm extending from the short sleeve of the blouse. She is posed before a still-life painting that depicts a curtained cupboard. The scalloped edged curtains fall away on both sides with the left curtain, which is tightly gathered in the middle, trailing down the side of the photo. A cloth with a decorative edge covers the top shelf of the cupboard, which has various decorative objects on it. Two candlesticks are partially visible on the lower shelf.]
Lola Álvarez Bravo
Mexican, 1903–1993
Arturo Estrada and Frida Kahlo in Exhibition, 1944
Gelatin silver print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: Arturo Estrada, a young student of Frida Kahlo, is shown with Kahlo at an exhibition of paintings by Mexican modernists. Estrada stands on the left side of the frame in this black and white photo, with his face in profile and looking directly at Kahlo. He wears a dark colored suit with a light colored shirt underneath and has wavy brown hair. His arms hang straight at his sides. Kahlo returns his gaze, with her head turned in three-quarter view while her body faces front, hands clasped at her waist. She wears a long pleated dark skirt, a shirt with a light and dark design, and a black rebozo that fully covers her neck and then opens at her chest. Her black hair is braided into a bun. Behind Estrada we can see part of a door that is adjacent to a temporary wall on which hangs a painting of a nude towering over fallen soldiers. Kahlo’s body is positioned in front of the painting, at the center, so much of the painting is obscured. To Kahlo’s right is another painting on an easel that shows a religious procession. A church official in a robe and tall mitre holds a rod and leads a long line of worshippers down the hill while a crowd of people are gathered to the right. In the background is a view of a town with a towering hill on the far horizon. The easel is positioned against a stone wall with columns.]
Bernard Silberstein
American, 1905–1999
Frida Painting The Wounded Table, Coyoacán, 1940
Gelatin silver print
Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
[Artwork Description: A black and white photograph showing a seated Frida Kahlo working on a large painting. Kahlo sits at far right, turned to the left with a paintbrush raised in her right hand. She wears a short sleeve traditional Mexican blouse and full flowered skirt with a wide ruffle at the hem. Her dark hair is piled on top of her head, and she is seen in profile. The large painting fills the rest of the photograph. The painting is a little taller than the seated Kahlo and stretches to the left side of the photo being at least three times as wide as Kahlo’s figure. The painting depicts figures gathered around a rectangular table. At left are two small human children, a boy and an older girl. At center is a large humanoid figure with its hands on a table. The figure has a small head and oversized body and a multitude of tubes and syringes attached to its body. To the right sits Kahlo looking out at the viewer. Her right arm has been replaced with a mechanical looking metal pipe and her long dark hair is draped over her left shoulder. To the right another figure, this time a skeleton, hold a lock of Kahlo’s hair aloft. Heavy dark curtains with braiding and tassels frame the painting at either side. Artwork can be seen hanging on the wall behind the painting and a woven mat is on the floor.]
Frida Kahlo
Mexican, 1907–1954
Portrait of Diego Rivera, 1937
Oil on Masonite
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
Kahlo painted this refined portrait while she was separated from Rivera. At this time, they continued as political partners and lobbied the Mexican government to grant asylum to the Russian Communist Leon Trotsky, who arrived in Mexico in 1937 and lived with them for two years.
[Artwork Description: In this portrait, the face and upper body of Diego Rivera sits in front of a light blue wall. He is looking slightly to the left. His oval face is slightly wider at the top. A full head of curly black hair is brushed back to show a high forehead with a small widow’s peak. He is clean shaven. His ears are even and close to his head. He has tan skin and brown eyebrows. His right eye is slightly larger than the left. Both eyes have slightly drooping eyelids. The whites of the eyes are visible both below and to each side of the dark brown iris. The nose is straight with a rounded end and medium wide nostrils. His light red lips are full and show a neutral expression. Lines from the side of his nose to the lower lip and a line on the right side of his face give him a slightly fleshy look. An open-collared shirt of medium blue reveals a triangle of tan throat.]
Frida Kahlo
Mexican, 1907–1954
Self-Portrait with Necklace, 1933
Oil on metal
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
Kahlo made several small paintings on metal, referencing the ex-voto tradition that dates to the seventeenth century in Mexico. Such votive offerings are often associated with folk art, created to thank deities for favors or miracles.
[Artwork Description: In this painting, painting Frida Kahlo’s face and shoulders fill the space. Her head is turned slightly to the left so that we see only her left ear. She is looking directly at us. Her skin tone shows shades of tan with blushed cheeks. Her almond shaped eyes are outlined in black, and the pupils are very dark brown. Her eyebrows are thick and dark and come together in a tiny point over her nose. Her nose is straight with a rounded end and rounded nostrils. Her lips are orange/red with a heart shaped upper lip and a full lower lip. There is a faint mustache on her upper lip. Her hair is pulled back from her face. The edge of a coiled braid can be seen behind her left ear. A necklace of beads in shades of blue and gray rests on her chest at about the level of her collarbone. Below the beads is the wide scooped neck of a white blouse that follows the curve of the beads. The neckline is decorated with a narrow strip of lace. The background wall is a blue gray color that picks up the color of the lightest beads.]
Martin Munkácsi
Romanian, 1896–1963
Frida and Diego, 1934
Gelatin silver print
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
[Artwork Description: A vertical black and white photograph of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Their two faces fill the frame, with Kahlo on the left facing towards the right in a three-quarter view, slightly overlapping Rivera’s face, which is positioned directly towards the viewer, but with his eyes focused on Kahlo’s face. Her hair is parted at the center and pulled back. His hair is combed back and wavy. Their expressions are pensive with their closed lips, neither smiling or frowning. A soft source of light illuminates the right sides of their faces.]