Intimate belongings of Frida Kahlo to be displayed in London
Clothes, jewellery, makeup and a prosthetic leg belonging to the artist will be seen for the first time out of Mexico
Frida Kahlo is undoubtedly a icon. The Mexican surrealist painter is well known around the world for her stunning autobiographical art, including heartwrenching paintings depicting her unconventional physical characteristics, miscarriages, and identity struggles.
Now, clothes, jewellery, makeup and a defiantly redleather-booted prosthetic leg belonging to the Mexican artist, sealed in her house for more than 50 years, will be displayed in London, which will be the first time they will be seen outside Mexico.
The Victoria and Albert Museum on Thursday announced details of the major show, Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up, exploring one of the most recognised artists and women of the 20th century, reports the Guardian.
Claire Wilcox, senior curator of fashion at the museum, said Kahlo was an important “countercultural and feminist symbol” and being able to exhibit the items from Mexico was “a huge privilege”.
More than 200 items from the Blue House, the home of Kahlo and her muralist husband Diego Rivera, on the outskirts of Mexico City, are coming to London.
After Kahlo died in 1954, aged 47, Rivera locked up her belongings in a room and said it should not be opened until after his death. In the event, it was not opened until 2004, revealing a fascinating treasure trove of clothes, makeup, jewellery, medicines and other intimate possessions.
“This is the real material evidence of the way Kahlo constructed her identity,” the Guardian quoted Wilcox as saying.
The show will explore how the artist empowered herself through her art, clothes and style after a difficult early life. Aged 18, she had a near-fatal bus crash that left her in pain and incapacitated for long periods.
The show will include 22 of the colourful and often paintsplashed Tehuana garments she wore, visible in the hundreds of photographs and numerous self-portraits that exist of her. There will also be one of her ebony eyebrow pencils that she used to emphasise her monobrow and her favourite lipstick.