Frida Kahlo

The Rose Art Museum is honored to present an intimate display of three self-portraits by the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), generously loaned from private collections. Framing the paintings are photographs of Kahlo taken by her beloved father, Guillermo Kahlo (1871-1941), and her close friend and lover Nicholas Muray (1892-1965).

Presenting these three powerful self-portraits side by side sheds light on the trajectory of Kahlo’s art and life, revealing threads of continuity as well as ruptures and signs of decline. At the same time, the photos reflect the active collaboration between Kahlo and her photographers, capturing how the painter deliberately posed, composed, and performed distinct self-constructed identities in front of the camera.

The works exhibited, ensconced within the museum’s permanent collection, highlight the artist’s devotion to her native Mexico, unique sartorial flair, modes of hiding and exposing her disabled body, her queer, gender-fluid identity, and her bold and transgressive ways of being.