Frida Kahlo at the Hungarian National Gallery

Frida’s love letter to Muray Miklós,
 written in Hungarian.

This is the first time ever that we can see paintings from Frida Kahlo in Hungary. At the exhibition there are 35 works displayed from the collection of the Museo Dolores Olmedo Mexico City. There are exactly 26 paintings and 9 drawings to be seen.

Born to a German father and a mestiza mother Frida has spent her childhood and most of her adult life at her family home in Coyoacán, La Casa Azul that is the Frida Kahlo Museum nowadays.

She was disabled by polio as a child and at the age of 18 a traffic accident caused lifelong pain for her. This is how art became important for Frida who originally wanted to go to medical school. After the accident she had to wear body cast for three months and to kill time and not to think about the pain she started painting self-portraits with the help of a mirror and a special easel in her bed.

Meeting Diego Rivera was the second accident in her life – she said. They married, divorced then remarried again; both had lovers during their married life. One of the lovers of Frida who I wish to mention here was the Hungarian photographer Muray Miklós who emigrated to America fleeing the treat of World War I. Miklós and Frida met for the first time in 1931 and later they became on and off lovers for almost ten years. Miklós wanted to marry Frida but as Frida wanted him as a lover only he finally left her. Nevertheless they remained good friends until the death of Frida in 1954. In the exhibition a photo of a love letter from Frida can be seen on one of the walls. It was beautifully written in Hungarian.   

Her paintings and drawings show her experiences in life, her physical and emotional pain, miscarriages and her relationship with Diego. I try to show you here other works of her as the well-known self-portraits.

Fridamania

Frida was mainly known as Diego’s wife until the late 1970s, when her work was rediscovered. Today her art and appearance influences the biggest fashion houses, tattoo artists, jewellery makers and basically the whole world.

The exhibition is open until 4 November 2018.