Updates: 10/14/2021 15:07
Released: 14.10.2021, 15:07

Prague – Over two hundred photographs from the collection of the important and for many still mysterious Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907 to 1954) are exhibited by the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague. From Friday, those interested can see pictures from her rich collection of over 6,000 items in the House at the Stone Bell, which were discovered in 2003. The traveling exhibition, which was seen in various parts of the world by more than half a million spectators, will last in Prague until January 16, 2022. .

According to the organizers, some of the photographs are, in addition to the historical and artistic values ​​of the securities, also a gift from famous photographers who have befriended Frida, such as Man Ray and Edward Weston.

“Frida has always been and will be Mexico. She characterizes my country, the joy of life, the colors, but also the connection with the sadness and pain that have affected the history of Mexico,” Mexican Ambassador Rosaura Leonora Rueda Gutiérrez told reporters today. According to her, the exhibition shows the history of Mexico and its present. Frida is a model of struggle especially for women, not only physical struggle, because she had to fight for her health after an injury, but also a struggle for love and for its sufficiency, added the diplomat.

Kahlo had a strong relationship with photography. Her father and grandfather were professional photographers, and she herself collected daguerreotypes and postcards from the 19th century, photographs of her family and friends of impressive portraits of herself. She also intervened in photographs in various ways, cut out of them or wrote or drew on them. It was only after the discovery of the archive that it became clear that many of her works originated in photographic composition.

After Frida Kahlo’s death, her husband, Diego Rivera, donated their house in Mexico City, known as the Blue House, to the Mexicans to turn it into her museum. But he asked that the painter’s personal archive remain hidden. It was not until 50 years after her death that the archive was opened. From the photographs found, Mexican photographer and historian Pablo Ortiz Monasterio took a selection of 214 images that testify to her origins, politics, revolution and Diego River, her broken body, love and friendship.

Kahlo was a controversial figure whose fame transcended the field of fine arts. Her life has inspired many creators. There were documentaries, fictionalized biographies, theater and dance performances, as well as a feature film with Salma Hayek in the title role.

Frida Kahlo was born in 1907 in México City. Her youth was accompanied by a number of tragic events – she suffered from severe polio and at the age of 18 she was seriously injured in a bus accident. He had to undergo 35 spine and pelvic surgeries. Severe pain and depression caused by a severe injury haunted her for the rest of her life.

During the convalescence, Kahlo began to focus more on fine arts. She painted portraits and self-portraits in the style of original Mexican folk art. Her paintings reflected love, betrayal, political zeal and abortion. She expressed her identity through contrasts: suffering versus joy, darkness versus light, the colors of her native Mexico versus the depression of the United States, life in death versus death in life.

Her distinctive works are close to expressionism, surrealism, but also naive painting with elements of symbolism. Kahlo was famous not only for her impressive paintings, but also for her love escapades. After a tumultuous relationship with Rivera, she was also the mistress of, for example, the communist revolutionary Leo Trotsky. Frida Kahlo died at the age of 47.

Mexico art photography Kahlo