A new museum in Mexico City, Museo Casa Kahlo, offers a glimpse into the personal life of renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Located in the house where Kahlo’s parents lived and later her sister Cristina’s home, the museum showcases the artist’s family life, highlighting her relationships with her loved ones. The museum’s director, Adán GarcÃa Fajardo, describes the space as a representation of Frida’s life in the “intimacy and security of family,” where visitors can see her as “aunt Frida, daughter Frida”.
The museum features nine original artworks by Kahlo, including “A Tray of Poppies,” one of her earliest works, and countless personal items, such as photographs taken by her father Guillermo Kahlo, a celebrated photographer. Visitors can explore the house’s various rooms, including the kitchen adorned with murals of flowers and fruit trees painted by Frida, and the basement where she would often retreat to paint and write. The museum also highlights Kahlo’s close relationship with her sister Cristina, whom she referred to as “the other half of my life”.
By presenting Frida’s life in a family context, the museum aims to “dismantle the monopoly” of her history that has traditionally come from a male perspective. This new perspective allows visitors to learn more about Frida not just as an artist, but as a woman, and to see the place where she felt safe and could be herself. As 19-year-old student Aranza Vazquez noted after visiting the museum, “Visiting this museum, you learn more about Frida not as an artist, but as a woman. I feel like it was a place that belonged to her, where she could be herself”.
