The Archives of American Art created this exhibition in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month 2001 in order to pay tribute to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (b. 1907 d. 1954) and her enduring influence on American art.
The photographs and letters seen here were selected from several of the Archives’ collections, including the papers of author and artist Florence Arquin, who lectured extensively on the art of Latin America during the 1940s and 1950s, painter and muralist Emmy Lou Packard, who lived with Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera for a time, writer John Weatherwax, photographer Nickolas Muray, and prominent collector and art patron Chester Dale. Together, they provide a glimpse into Kahlo’s public and private life while revealing relationships and events that impacted her life and art.