El baño de Frida, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México
Artist name
Artist year born
1942
Artwork make date
2006
Artwork title translation
Frida's Bathroom, Coyoacán, Mexico City
Artwork material
silver gelatin
Artwork dimensions
height: 26.5cm
width: 27.5cm
width: 27.5cm
Artwork type (categories)
Photograph
Accession method
Purchased with the assistance of the PINTA Museums Acquisitions Programme 2011
Accession number
1-2011
Label text
This photograph shows the prosthetic right leg and highly decorative tooled leather boot of Mexico’s best-known artist, Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), who created many self-portraits. This was one of the very personal objects that her husband, the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886-1957), insisted remained behind closed doors in the bathroom of La Casa Azul (The Blue House), their home in Coayacán (Mexico City) until 50 years after her death. The house became a museum in 1958 and when, in 2005, Frida’s bathroom was finally reopened, Graciela Iturbide was invited to photograph the room and objects, which also included Kahlo’s back brace. Kahlo suffered poor health for most of her life, following polio in childhood and a serious tram accident as a teenager. She had her leg amputated in 1953, a year before her death. Kahlo’s life often captivates audiences as much as her art, as evidenced in this photograph and the global industry that has emerged around her.
(Display caption from the exhibition Mexican Migrations, 2013)
(Display caption from the exhibition Mexican Migrations, 2013)