The six destinations of Frida Kahlo: a journey towards surrealism
1. THE BLUE HOUSE: ENTER AN INTIMATE WORLD
It is one of the best places to learn about the painter's secrets, since it is the house where she grew up and lived most of the time . Located on the street London 247 , in Mexico City , was converted into museum to the delight of all the “fridamaniacs” in the world.
Here we find all kinds of intimate objects, such as the bed from which Kahlo painted many of her paintings, the crutches and the corset that she used, the collections of toys or her works " Live life " Y " Portrait of my father Wilhelm Kahlo ”. At the head of the bed we see portraits of Lenin, Stalin and Mao , and in the closet we find dresses that marked an era. In fact, Until September you can visit the temporary exhibition “Appearances are deceiving: Frida Kahlo's dresses ”, which reviews the wardrobe that has inspired international dressmakers such as Jean Paul Gaultier.
The house where she grew up and lived most of the time
two. COYOACAN DISTRICT: WALKING FOR LOVE
In this district of Mexico City, which is where the Casa Azul is, we also find corners that define Kahlo's relationship with Diego Rivera . The College of San Ildefonso , for example, is the place where both met in 1922 , and has now been converted into a museum. This is where Diego Rivera painted the mural” The Creation at the Simón Bolívar Amphitheater ”. On the other hand, the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Studio House Museum It is a functionalist-style building where the couple lived for several years, and today it houses works by both artists. One of Kahlo's most extensive collections, however, is in the Dolores Olmedo Museum , which has thirty pieces on display. Lastly, in the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving “La Esmeralda ” you can see the place where “Los Fridos” appeared, who were the devoted students that Frida had when she taught painting classes at that school.
Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.
3. SAN FRANCISCO: INFLUENCING LOCAL ARTISTS
In 1929, at the age of 22, Frida marries Diego, who is now 42, and two years later they move to USA . In 1931 the artist debuted in the Society of Women Artists , and she is inspired by her experience in the American city to paint much more often. She here she knows the doctor Eloesser , who was her doctor for many years and became, as she affectionately called him, hers " dear little doctor ”. As a sign of her friendship, Kahlo painted a portrait of her that can still be seen today in some exhibition in the city. In fact, the museums of San Francisco remember much of the artist, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) inaugurates the next September 20 The exhibition " Fertile Ground: Art and Community in California ” (Fertile Soil: Art and Community in California), which explores the direct influence of Kahlo and Rivera on the California art from the 1930s.
Four. DETROIT AND NEW YORK: MIXED FEELINGS
The pictures that Kahlo paints in detroit are some of the most sentimental of his entire career . After suffering two natural abortions, her works begin to be filled with biographical notes. She also paints various Mexican landscapes, a country she misses. In the Detroit museum you can see the mural of Diego Rivera , which is why they went to live in the city, which was about to be destroyed because the couple was accused of being a communist.
The mural became even more famous after the controversial project of the Rockefeller Center in New York , suspended and destroyed in 1934 . In Detroit, the couple's relationship became famous for being tumultuous; married and divorced and remarried . Today, you can visit Café Frida on New York's Upper West Side - or go to Nuremberg to marvel at Café Frida Kahlo - and, in a few months, visit the “Garden of Frida Kahlo” installation in the Bronx. , inspired by the garden that the artist had in her own home, and which will include an exhibition of her paintings with natural motifs.
Marvel at Café Frida Kahlo
5. PARIS: ROUTES UNDER A CLOUDY SKY
“ Damn Paris... cloudy and full of 'culture' ’”. This is one of the famous phrases that Kahlo said when she returned from her first visit to the city of lights, making it clear that she did not identify with the surrealist movement. She came to Paris at the invitation of André Breton to participate in an exhibition of Mexican art at the gallery Pierre Cole . Although it was not very successful - they told him that he did not have a category to exhibit -, some time later the Louvre acquired one of his paintings (The Frame – Self-Portrait) , and turned it into the first Mexican artist of the 20th century to exhibit on its walls.
Paris, in fact, continues to pay homage to her: just this year she has organized the exhibition “ Frida Kahlo/Diego Rivera, Art in Fusion ”At the Orangerie Museum, and the Cervantes Institute in Paris, they have produced a very complete guide to discover Frida's favorite corners in the city, which includes excerpts from letters to Rivera with her impressions of the Parisian art world.
6. ROME: CONTEMPORARY ADMIRATION
You have Frida Kahlo closer than you think. The prestigious Scuderie del Quirinale hosts up to August 31 a retrospective with 160 works by or about Kahlo , which synthesize the best of the collections of Mexico, Europe and the United States . The subtitle of the exhibition is promising: “I thought I was the weirdest person in the world, but then I thought if there are so many people in the world, there must be someone like me who feels weird and flawed the way I feel. ”.
Exhibited together with works by De Chirico or Roland Penrose, the impact of Kahlo on her contemporaries is studied. We also find photographic portraits and even colorful Vogue covers with the face of the artist. The most representative painting? The Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird.
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The six destinations of Frida Kahlo: a journey towards surrealism