Frida Kahlo

(Mexican, 1907–1954)

Frida Kahlo was a celebrated Mexican painter known for her complex self-portraits. Inspired by pre-Columbian artifacts and Mexican folk art, Kahlo produced bizarre yet beautiful works which the Surrealist André Breton once described as a “ribbon around a bomb.” “My paintings are well-painted, not nimbly but patiently,” she once said of her work. “My painting contains in it the message of pain.” Born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo Calderón on July 6, 1907, in Mexico City, Mexico to a German-born father and Mexican mother, she studied philosophy and medicine as a youth. At the age of 18, Kahlo was involved in a traumatic bus accident that left her badly injured and confined to a bed for months. During her slow recovery, she took up painting from her bed, and subsequently abandoned her academic pursuits. Able to leave her house once more in 1927, she joined the Mexican Communist Party and through mutual friends was introduced to the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. The two artists married in 1929, maintaining a tumultuous and often combative relationship over the years, in which both were unfaithful. Kahlo’s several lovers included the photographer Nickolas Murray, the sculptor Isamu Noguchi, and the exiled Communist leader Leon Trotsky. Though Kahlo and Rivera divorced in 1939, they remarried a year later. During the following decade, Kahlo painted prolifically and was the subject exhibitions in both the United States and Europe, despite chronic pain and destabilizing health problems. She died in Mexico City, Mexico on July 13, 1954 at the age of 47. In 1958, her home, La Casa Azul (The Blue House), in which she was born and died, was converted into the Museo Frida Kahlo. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, and the National Museum of Women in the Art in Washington, D.C., among others.

Frida Kahlo News

Art & Exhibitions

See Frida Kahlo in Her Element in a New York Show of Rare Photographs

by Katie White
See Frida Kahlo in Her Element in a New York Show of Rare Photographs
Archaeology & History

The Hunt: How Frida Kahlo’s Final Painting Vanished Into Storage

by Tim Brinkhof
The Hunt: How Frida Kahlo’s Final Painting Vanished Into Storage
Art World

Art Bites: Why Frida Kahlo Hated the French Surrealists

by Verity Babbs
Art Bites: Why Frida Kahlo Hated the French Surrealists

Frida Kahlo Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Frida Kahlo (100 results)
Surrealist drawing, Diego, 1940

Frida Kahlo

Surrealist drawing, Diego, 1940

Sale Date: May 31, 2007

Auction Closed

Roots, 1943

Frida Kahlo

Roots, 1943

Sale Date: May 24, 2006

Auction Closed

An assemblage of personal objects: A jade...

Frida Kahlo

An assemblage of personal objects: A jade...

Sale Date: November 17, 2004

Auction Closed

Niña Tehuacana, Lucha MarIa (Sol y luna), 1942

Frida Kahlo

Niña Tehuacana, Lucha MarIa (Sol y luna), 1942

Sale Date: November 17, 2004

Auction Closed

Frida and the miscarriage, 1932–1932

Frida Kahlo

Frida and the miscarriage, 1932–1932

Sale Date: June 10, 2004

Auction Closed

Puebla de los Angeles, 1952–1952

Frida Kahlo

Puebla de los Angeles, 1952–1952

Sale Date: June 10, 2004

Auction Closed

Self-portrait with curly hair, 1935–1935

Frida Kahlo

Self-portrait with curly hair, 1935–1935

Sale Date: November 19, 2003

Auction Closed

View of Central Park, 1932–1932

Frida Kahlo

View of Central Park, 1932–1932

Sale Date: May 28, 2003

Auction Closed

Frida and the miscarriage, 1932–1932

Frida Kahlo

Frida and the miscarriage, 1932–1932

Sale Date: November 1, 2001

Auction Closed

Portrait of Cristina, my sister, 1928–1928

Frida Kahlo

Portrait of Cristina, my sister, 1928–1928

Sale Date: May 31, 2001

Auction Closed

Karma, 1946–1946

Frida Kahlo

Karma, 1946–1946

Sale Date: May 30, 2001

Auction Closed

Naturaleza muerta con perico y bandera, 1951–1951

Frida Kahlo

Naturaleza muerta con perico y bandera, 1951–1951

Sale Date: May 30, 2001

Auction Closed

Frida y sus contemporáneos, 1925–1925

Frida Kahlo

Frida y sus contemporáneos, 1925–1925

Sale Date: November 22, 2000

Auction Closed

Carma I, 1946–1946

Frida Kahlo

Carma I, 1946–1946

Sale Date: November 21, 2000

Auction Closed

Autorretrato en miniatura

Frida Kahlo

Autorretrato en miniatura

Sale Date: November 21, 2000

Auction Closed

Lips, 1924–1924

Frida Kahlo

Lips, 1924–1924

Sale Date: November 21, 2000

Auction Closed

Self-portrait, 1929–1929

Frida Kahlo

Self-portrait, 1929–1929

Sale Date: May 31, 2000

Auction Closed

Aparador en una calle de Detroit, 1932–1932

Frida Kahlo

Aparador en una calle de Detroit, 1932–1932

Sale Date: January 24, 2000

Auction Closed

Autoretrato sentada con pie vendado , 1931–1931

Frida Kahlo

Autoretrato sentada con pie vendado , 1931–1931

Sale Date: November 24, 1999

Auction Closed

Self-portrait drawing, 1937–1937

Frida Kahlo

Self-portrait drawing, 1937–1937

Sale Date: November 25, 1998

Auction Closed

Sin título, 1947–1947

Frida Kahlo

Sin título, 1947–1947

Sale Date: November 24, 1998

Auction Closed

Self-portrait, 1947–1947

Frida Kahlo

Self-portrait, 1947–1947

Sale Date: September 20, 1998

Auction Closed

Autorretrato en la frontera entre México y..., 1932

Frida Kahlo

Autorretrato en la frontera entre México y..., 1932

Sale Date: May 15, 1996

Auction Closed

Los cuatro habitantes de Mexico, 1937

Frida Kahlo

Los cuatro habitantes de Mexico, 1937

Sale Date: May 14, 1996

Auction Closed

English (US)

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