Since her death in 1954, Frida Kahlo has been a cultural icon. Frida: Beyond the Mython view at the Dallas Museum of Art through November 17, explores her life and humanity through her own work as well as the art of the people who knew her best.
Organized by the Dallas Museum of Art, the exhibition is co-curated by Dr. Agustin Arteaga, the museum’s director (Eugene McDermott), and Sue Canterbury, the museum’s curator of American art (Pauline Gill Sullivan).
“Sue and I worked together to try to create a narrative that stretches from her very first days as a young girl aged four to the present day, using images from the most important photographers of the 20th “Century photos that show her in very private, intimate moments, and also her works, and that allow us to learn about her life as she reflected on the things that happened to her,” Arteaga said.
The exhibition includes 60 works by Kahlo and her contemporaries and traces the events that shaped her life and art. Beginning with her early years, the exhibition shows the influence of her father, a photographer. Her first self-portrait, a gift for her friend Alejandro Gómez Arias, imitates the European Mannerist painters of the 16th century.th Century.
“We see a Frida who we recognize by her beautiful face and her beautiful features, but at this moment she is looking at the old masters,” Arteaga said.
This first self-portrait was created after a devastating bus accident in 1925 in which she suffered life-changing injuries. Alongside this self-portrait is her drawing of the accident as well as her portrait of Arias.
Kimberly Richard
In 1928, Kahlo asked Diego Rivera to judge her paintings. A year later, Kahlo and Rivera were married. Shortly after their wedding, the couple moved to the United States, where Rivera received several commissions. The couple spent time in San Francisco, Detroit, and New York. Kahlo’s Tehuana dress caught the attention of children in Detroit, and she gave 1910 as her year of birth, as it coincided with the start of the Mexican Revolution.
“Here we will see how Frida begins to transform and we will see very important drawings that tell us what she is looking at,” said Arteaga.
After the destruction of Rivera’s controversial mural at Rockefeller Center, Kahlo created My dress is hanging there as a commentary on America’s economic and social hypocrisy.
“She comments on everything that’s happening in New York,” Arteaga said. “You’ll see her caring about the social unrest that was sparked by the big stock market crash.”
“For her, her Tehuana dress represents her. My dress may be here, but my heart and mind are in Mexico,” Canterbury said.
Kahlo became pregnant several times, but Rivera did not want children. One painting reflects Kahlo’s grief after one of her abortions, with her artist’s palette in the shape of a heart.
“It’s almost like saying, ‘These are going to be my children; my work is going to be my children.’ That was very upsetting for her,” Canterbury said. “She was especially sad to lose that particular child.”
To recover from one of the abortions, Kahlo traveled from Detroit to Mexico. Lucienne Bloch, a student of Rivera, took a wistful photograph of Kahlo staring out the train window.
Her relationship with Rivera was complicated because both of them had affairs.
“She was OK with him having affairs, but not with her sister,” Arteaga said. “It didn’t end well and they divorced for a year and remarried.”
Kimberly Richard
Nickolas Muray, a Hungarian-born commercial photographer, created some of the most striking portraits of Kahlo. Muray and Kahlo met in 1931 and had an affair for ten years. Muray hoped to marry Kahlo, but eventually realized that Kahlo and Rivera would always be connected. His portraits reflect the love and respect between the artists.
“You will see some of his beautiful portraits of her and many of them are the iconic images of Frida Kahlo with ribbons and flowers in her hair,” Arteaga said.
The museum set up a selfie station with a similar white bench and floral background as one of Muray’s portraits.
Kimberly Richard
Although she was successful, Kahlo’s health deteriorated. Self-portrait with monkeyit features one of her favorite pets, a monkey. She has a determined expression on her face and a bow in her hair. Her hair, however, is loose, suggesting physical disintegration. It is a compelling portrait of pain.
“You can see how beautiful it is. You can see a Frida who is completely adorned and confident, and you see a little monkey who is also wearing a ribbon of the same color as her, looking at us scared,” Arteaga said.
Kahlo creates still lifes as her health declines.
“Some of the works shown here, particularly her still lifes, were created while she was lying in bed,” Canterbury said. “She let aspects of things stand for themselves or for things that were happening in her life.”
Photographs by Florence Arquin and Lola Álvarez Bravo show the plaster corset she wore and her amputated leg. Self-portrait with open hairpainted a year after a failed spinal surgery, marks the beginning of the end of her life.
Kimberly Richard
“We don’t see the dolled-up Frida with all her makeup on. You see her hair down, you see her with that sad or tired expression on her face,” Arteaga said. “You see that some of that resilience and hope is slowly starting to leave her body.”
The exhibition ends with Viva Nature and a photograph of Kahlo completing the painting from her bed at the end of her life. This final painting features a sun and moon, representing a beginning and an end, and a white dove sitting on a branch, seemingly ready to depart into eternity.
Learn more: Dallas Museum of Art
