This exhibition bets that you don’t know Frida Kahlo as well as you might think

Frida Kahlo is known for her colorful self-portraits that explore themes of human suffering, identity and Mexican culture. Her iconic appearance, characterized by flower crowns and Tehuana dresses, is recognizable all over the world and she has become one of the most famous female painters of all time.

However, a new exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art asks visitors how good they are Real know Kahlo. The performance, “Frida: Beyond the myth”, hopes to pull back the curtain and paint a more intimate picture of the artist.

‘We’re actually trying to tell the whole story’ Sue Canterburyco-curator of the exhibition, says the Dallas Observerby Carly May Gravley. ‘She didn’t show up. … She was very deceptive at times. I’m trying to reveal some of those aspects about her and her life [is] key to this exhibition.”

Kahlo was known to exaggerate certain details about her life in her art and interviews. For example, she often said that she was born the same year as the Mexican Revolution in 1910, even though she was actually born three years earlier.

“Through this persistent self-modeling, Kahlo was essentially the architect of her own myth—a myth that she was ultimately devoured by,” Canterbury says in an article. statement of the museum. “Only through the eyes of those around her can we get closer to who she really was, by seeing her as she was seen and not just as she saw herself.”

The show features 30 works of art by Kahlo in addition to photographs of her. Some of the photographs were taken by intimate partners such as her husband, the muralist Diego Rivera, and her close friend and lover Nickolas Muray. Others were created by respected artists from her inner circle, such as a photographer Lola Alvarez Bravoart dealer Julien Levy and photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

The exhibition covers Kahlo’s entire life, starting with a photo of her as a four-year-old girl and ending with snapshots taken on her deathbed.

The paintings on display represent some of the most personal moments of the artist’s life. In one artwork, Kahlo reflects on her grief after an abortion by painting her palette in a heart shape.

“It’s almost like, ‘These will be my children; my work will be my children.’ This was very disturbing for her,” says Canterbury NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth‘s Kimberly Richard. “She was extremely sad to lose this particular child.”

Another portrait shows the artist at the end of her life, stripped of her flower crown and with her hair loose.

‘We don’t see that Frida, who is embellished, completely made up. You see her hair down, you see her with that expression that’s sad or tired,’ Agustin Arteagathe show’s other co-curator, the TV channel says. “You see some of that resilience and the hope starts to drain from her body.”

Some of the Kahlo paintings on view here have not been publicly exhibited for more than twenty years Artnet‘s Devorah Lauter. Curators hope visitors will gain a better understanding of the artist.

“While Kahlo is beloved for her vibrant and emotional paintings, there is still much to learn about who she was as a person,” Arteaga said in the statement. “With this exhibition, we hope to peel back some of the layers and reveal more about the individual who continues to captivate audiences here and around the world.”

“Frida: Beyond the Myth” can be seen in the Dallas Museum of Art until November 17, 2024. After that it can be seen in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts from April 5 to September 28, 2025.