Frida Kahlo

Artist Manuel Alvarez Bravo (Mexican, 1902-2002)

Dateabout 1936

DimensionsImage: 9 9/16 × 7 1/4 in. (9 9/16 × 7 1/4 in.)
Photograph: 9 15/16 × 7 15/16 in. (25.2 × 20.2 cm)
Mat: 19 1/4 × 14 1/4 in. (48.9 × 36.2 cm)

MediumGelatin-silver print

ClassificationPhotographs

Credit LineWinthrop H. Perry Fund

Object number

1990.21

Not on View

Label TextAs the obsession with publicity developed in the 20th century, not only film stars but also artists and intellectuals began to actively shape their image for a mass audience. Among them was Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907–1954), a celebrity during her lifetime for her striking self-portrait paintings, and a cult legend today. Aware of how the photograph could be used to fashion her artistic identity, she allowed herself to be photographed frequently. Taken in avant-garde photographer Manuel Álvarez Bravo’s studio, this portrait approximates the ‘reality’ of Kahlo’s own portrait paintings. Seated at a wooden table, she gazes directly outward, wearing Mexican folk-inspired dress. The mirrored, curved surface of a glass globe on the table reflects the sparsely furnished room. A Mesoamerican relief sculpture rests against the wall on the floor beside her. Central to the art of both Bravo and Kahlo was a similar interest in Mexican folk art, fantasy, and Surrealism, whose motifs they incorporated into their work to imbue it with an otherworldly power. By replicating the décor, dress, and environment of Kahlo’s painted world, Bravo affirms her artistic vision as well as their shared worldview.Exhibition HistoryTMA, Jan 22 - June 8, 1999

Toledo Museum of Art, Framing Fame: 19th- & 20th-century Celebrity Photography, March 4–June 4, 2017.