Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) was a Mexican artist whose work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form. In her lifetime, Kahlo’s painting were exhibited in Mexico, New York, and Paris when the Louvre Museum bought one her self-portraits. Her work was the first Mexican artist to be collected by that famed institution. Though she traveled in international circles, gaining admiration by such artist giants as Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, recognition of Kahlo’s genius was temporarily overshadowed by the greater fame of her husband, Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. They were a volatile couple and had numerous affairs. Kahlo wrote openly about her romances with African American entertainer Josephine Baker, American painter Georgia O’Keeffe, Mexican singer Chavela Vargas, and other men and women.