Frida Kahlo Museum: Everything you need to know

Among the multitude of museums in Mexico City, the Frida Kahlo Museum is one of the most notable for its originality and the interesting and controversial history of the Mexican artist.

Frida Kahlo is the most famous Mexican artist in the history of Mexico and one of the most important in the world.

His paintings, especially his self-portraits, have received worldwide recognition as masterpieces and prestige for the museums, institutions and private collectors who own them.

But Frida was an exceptional human being who went far beyond her artistic work, with a totally different attitude towards life, a peculiar appearance, exotic clothes and who lived a turbulent relationship with fellow artist Diego Rivera.

Frida Kahlo is a national icon and her museum allows Mexicans and foreign visitors to get closer to the life and work of a symbol of “Mexicanness.”

Where is the Frida Kahlo Museum?

Frida Kahlo was born and died in a house in the beautiful Coyoacan neighborhood, and on Mexico City, located on the corner of Londres and Allende streets. It is also known as Casa Azul and is home to the museum in honor of the artist.

In this house that became a symbol of the Mexican capital, Frida gave her first brushstrokes and managed to continue painting with almost no conditions, with her body destroyed by the car accident she suffered in 1925, while she tirelessly entered the operating room to accumulate 32 interventions.

Although she lived in many places after her marriage to Diego Rivera, Frida always considered her true home to be Casa Azul and returned to it whenever she could.

The house was built by Frida's parents in 1904 and was always required to be painted this color. At least Frida painted it this color in her 1936 oil painting "My Grandparents, My Parents and I."

What are the main spaces at Casa Azul?

The Blue House has a garden that was decorated by the Rivera-Kahlo couple with a variety of cacti, including nopales, magueyes and biznagas.

Over time, some trees were planted that now shelter the site in a welcoming manner. In one corner of the garden there is a pyramid that was commissioned to be built by Diego Rivera when an extension of the Blue House was created to accommodate the Russian Leon Trotsky.

The three-level pyramid, with a staircase running along one of its faces, was decorated with pre-Hispanic objects, such as skulls carved in basalt and archaeological pieces.

The Blue House Studio was designed in 1944 by Mexican painter and architect Juan O'Gorman and houses a collection of Frida's work objects and some archaeological pieces collected by the couple. Among the instruments that passed through the painter's hands are her brushes and the mirror she used to take self-portraits.

In Frida's personal bedroom, most of the space is taken up by a wooden four-poster bed, which is the artist's death mask, made by sculptor Ignacio Asúnsolo Durango.

On the ceiling of the bed there is a mirror that was installed by Dona Matilde Calderón, Frida's mother, to make the painter's work easier after the accident.

The kitchen at Casa Azul is in an old-fashioned style and is filled with pieces of folk art collected by Frida and Diego. The couple liked to prepare their Mexican dishes the old-fashioned way, using wood, even though gas stoves were already available.

The dining room has been preserved just as Frida and Diego left it, with pieces of folk art used by the couple to decorate the space.

What are Frida's main works in the museum's permanent collection?

At the Frida Kahlo Museum you will find works such as “Portrait of my father Guillermo Kahlo”, a work dedicated to Carl Wilhelm Kahlo, a German photographer who settled in Mexico in 1891 and Spanishized his name to Guillermo.

In the portrait painted by Frida, Guillermo Kahlo appears wearing a brown suit, with a thick mustache and holding the old camera that supported him during his studies in Mexico City.

Although the portrait is not dated, it is known that it was made around 1951, as it appears in a photo of Frida taken during an interview for the newspaper Novedades.

Regarding some information gaps in Frida Kahlo's work, we must keep in mind that the artist achieved celebrity several years after her death.

Another work by Frida in the museum is “My Family,” an oil painting that she left unfinished and on which she worked in several stages, including in 1954, shortly before her death.

In the family photo, the 4 grandparents appear at the top, the parents in the center and at the bottom, next to Frida, her 3 sisters, 3 nephews and a baby who is still unknown.

Another work to appreciate is “Frida and the Caesarean Section”, an unfinished oil painting from 1931 that has dramatic symbolism, as one of the artist's greatest frustrations was not being able to have children, not even by Caesarean section, as following her accident she suffered two miscarriages.

The photo was taken in 1931, one year after the first abortion and 6 years after the accident.

Also in the Blue House is the painting Viva La Vida, the well-known oil work with Frida's watermelons, which the painter titled and dated 8 days before she died in 1954. This was the last work Frida made.

Are there other objects in the museum linked to Frida's life?

There are two clocks made in Barrio de La Luz, Puebla, which were artistically decorated by Frida and in which she captured an allegory of her turbulent relationship with Diego Rivera.

On the clock on the left, Frida alludes to her break with Rivera with the phrase “The hours have been broken. September 1939.” On the clock on the right, she refers to the place, date and time of the reconciliation with the expression “In San Francisco, California. December 8, 40 to eleven.”

American businessman Nelson Rockefeller gave Frida an easel specially designed for people with motor disabilities, which is in the Blue House.

Also on display at the museum is a collection of butterflies that was given to Frida by the American sculptor Isamu Noguchi, with whom the painter had a romantic relationship.

Frida Kahlo's ashes are buried in the Casa Azul in a pre-Hispanic style bowl shaped like a frog, a design that symbolizes the artist's admiration for pre-Columbian civilizations and her love for Rivera, who was called "Frog Sapo"

Are there any special exhibitions at the museum related to Frida Kahlo's life?

In 2012, the exhibition entitled “Appearances can be deceiving: Frida Kahlo’s dresses” was opened at Casa Azul, and had a great impact both in the art world and in the fashion world.

This was the first exhibition to feature Frida's dresses, the same ones the artist used to build part of her public image. The dresses were traditional Mexican pieces that she wore for greater comfort after the debilitating accident.

Some of Frida's dresses were discovered in 2004 in the bathroom of the Casa Azul and inspired designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Ricardo Tisci in some of their collections.

What are the opening hours and ticket prices for the Frida Kahlo Museum?

The Frida Kahlo Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday at two times; on Wednesdays, the opening hours are from 11 am to 17:45 pm and the remaining days are open from 10 am to 17:45 pm.

General fares are approximately R$38 on weekdays and R$42 on weekends, with preferential prices according to nationality, age and other categories.

On Saturdays and Sundays, the “Fridabus – A day with Frida and Diego” is available to the public, visiting the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Museum and the Anahuacalli Museum, both located in Coyoacán.

The package has a regular price of approximately 30 reais with a preferential rate of 15 reais for children under 12 years old and includes tickets to both museums and transportation between them. Buses leave at 12:30, 14:00 and 15:30.

How to get to the Frida Kahlo museum?

To get to the Frida Kahlo museum by public transport, you have to get to the Coyoacán metro station (Line 3) and then take a minibus on Coyoacán Avenue towards the center of the neighborhood. You have to get off at Londres Street and finally walk 4 blocks to Casa Azul.

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