Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo’s soul-bearing self-portraits reflect both the artist’s interiority and the social mythologies that shaped her life in Mexico. Her canvases incorporated aspects of traditional portraiture and of murals; like the major Mexican muralists of her time—including her husband Diego Rivera—Kahlo celebrated indigenous culture throughout her compositions. The artist often rendered herself with a powerful gaze and incorporated parrots, monkeys, and, occasionally, leftist political imagery into her works. While Kahlo certainly made paintings that didn’t include her own likeness, this instantly recognizable, unflinching style has made her an icon of feminist empowerment. Kahlo was wracked with physical ailments from a young age and originally planned to study medicine. She embraced artmaking while recovering from an accident and eventually found success in Mexico, New York, Paris, and beyond. Her work belongs in the collections of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, among others, and has sold for millions on the secondary market.