Frida Kahlo: Images of An Icon

October 13 - December 16, 2007

The exhibition features approximately 60 photographic portraits of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo taken throughout her life. Beginning with childhood and ending with an image of Kahlo on her deathbed, these portraits bring into focus the painter, the patient, the wife, the daughter, the lover, and the friend. Kahlo had a keen understanding of how to craft an image and construct an identity in front of the lens. Viewers will see how some of the photographs mask – as well as reveal – much about the woman who described herself as "la gran ocultadora," the great concealer. The portraits belong to the collection of Spencer Throckmorton, a specialist in Latin American photographs. His dynamic collection started more than two decades ago and includes more than 100 images of Kahlo, many of them unique. Featured images by such modern masters of photography include those taken by Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Lucienne Bloch, Florence Arquin, and Manuel Alvarez Bravo. Leading photojournalists include Giselle Freund, Bernard Silberstein, and Fritz Henle, as well as Kahlo’s relatives, lovers, and friends, which include Guillermo Kahlo, Nickolas Muray, and Lola Alvarez Bravo. The exhibition is organized by Throckmorton Fine Art, New York.

Nickolas Muray (American, 1892-1965)
Two Fridas #28, about 1930
Platinum print
Courtesy Throckmorton Fine Art, New York

Florence Arquin (American, 1900-1974)
Frida Kahlo, Chicago, 1941
Gelatin silver print; printed 1990s
Courtesy Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
 

Nickolas Muray (American, 1892-1965)
Frida with Diego and Gas Mask #11, about 1930
Platinum print
Courtesy Throckmorton Fine Art, New York
 

Lucienne Bloch (American, 1909-1999)
Frida in front of the Unfinished Unity Panel, 1933
Gelatin silver print; printed 1997
Courtesy Throckmorton Fine Art, New York