There are plenty of legends and rumors surrounding Frida Kahlo’s origins. Some say her grandparents traveled from their home in Hungary to Baden in Germany. Other swear that the Hungarian origins of the Kahlo family was a rumor spread by Frida’s father. The one thing we are certain of is that Guillermo Kahlo migrated to Veracruz in 1878.
In Veracruz, he met his wife Matilde Calderón. They got married in 1904, and that same year they moved to a house in Coyoacan, Mexico City. This neighborhood was a witness to the birth of one of the most important artists of the country. The house where Frida spent her first years of her life was the only place she truly called “home,” despite moving to several houses across Mexico and around the world. She always cherished the backyard where she played in as a child.
The hallways of the famous “Casa Azul” give a silent testimony of Frida’s best moments and her worst times. Within its walls, she learned to walk, recuperated after her tragic accident, cried over Diego Rivera, and had an affair with Leon Trotsky. Her room sheltered her during the first hours of her life and her final minutes on this Earth.
Yes, her home was the place she loved the most. Nevertheless, she also had incredible adventures in other locations that you might not even know or considered visiting.
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Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso
From 1910 to 1980 this building was the National High School. Here, she joined a socialist group called Los Cachuchas and met her first love: Alejandro Gómez Arias. In 1922, San Ildefonso stopped being a High School and became a museum under the administration of the UNAM (The National Autonomous University of Mexico)
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Cuauhtemotzin Street
Frida’s life forever changed on September 17, 1925. The bus she was on crashed with a streetcar. The accident took place on the intersection of Cuauhtemotzin Street and San Antonio Abad Avenue. The tragedy left more than permanent scars on her skin; it became a centerpiece of her art.
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SEP (The Mexican Secretariat of Public Education) Building
Her involvement with the Cachuchas introduced her to the liberal ideologies of the time and to the love of her life: Diego Rivera. Frida watched Diego painting a mural on the Simón Bolívar amphitheater, and their first conversation took place inside the SEP building. Frida showed her work to Diego; the latter was impressed with her paintings and encouraged her to continue with her art.
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Coyoacan City Hall
Every person who has walked on the streets of Coyoacan has seen this City Hall, but only a few have stepped inside. In August 1929, this building was where Frida and Diego married. The Casa de Cortés is still a civil registration center. In one of the rooms, there is a mural named La Conquista y el tormento a Cuauhtémoc, which was painted by Diego Rosales.
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Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit
Between 1931 and 1934, Diego and Frida lived in different cities across North America. Rivera was invited to form part of different exhibitions, and at one point he was asked to paint the Rockefeller Center. The couple was also escaping from political persecution against Mexican liberals. During these trips, Frida got pregnant, but the aftermath of the accident meant she wouldn’t be able to be pregnant full term. On July 4, 1932 Frida suffered a miscarriage; she spent three days in the Henry Ford Hospital, and during her stay she painted the famous Henry Ford Hospital.
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Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo
The last years Frida spent in the US, she was unhappy and wanted to come back to Mexico. Although Diego was fascinated with the American culture, the couple returned to their homeland at the end of 1933. Her new house was located in the San Angel neighborhood and was designed by Juan O’Groman. It has two buildings which are linked by a bridge.
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Renou et Poyet Art Gallery, Paris
In this building Frida had her first art exhibition outside Mexico; she showed her paintings next to André Breton. On March 10, 1938, the show Mexique opened. Her painting Autorretrato – El Marco became the first painting of Frida to be acquired by the Louvre Museum.
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Mexican Art Gallery
Inés Amor founded the first gallery in Mexico’s City in 1935. By January 1940 the first International Surrealist Exhibition took place, and it was the first time the world got to see Las Fridas. Nowadays, the Mexican Art Gallery has one of the most complete archives of modern and contemporary art in the country.
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La Esmeralda Alley, San Fernando 14
In 1942, the old Colegio de Escultura changed its headquarters and became La Escuela de Pintura y Escultura. The students started calling it La Esmeralda because it was close to an alley with the same name. One year after it opened, Frida started to give classes there. She invited her students to find inspiration in the Mexican culture, rather than the European trends.
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Without a question these were the most important places where Frida transformed herself into the artist we admire today. If you visit them, you will understand the process behind her work, and maybe, find a bit of inspiration as well.
