{"id":40717,"date":"2025-09-27T09:02:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T09:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/40717\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T09:02:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T09:02:13","slug":"casa-kahlo-museum-opens-in-mexico-city-revealing-intimate-details-of-frida-kahlos-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/40717\/","title":{"rendered":"Casa Kahlo Museum opens in Mexico City, revealing intimate details of Frida Kahlo’s life"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 The long-held secrets of the Kahlo family, including those of legendary artist Frida<\/a>, are about to be unlocked for the world with the opening of the Casa Kahlo Museum this weekend.<\/p>\n

Although located very close to the iconic Casa Azul in Coyoac\u00e1n\u2019s historic center<\/a>, the Casa Kahlo Museum is a different place with an intertwined history. This house belonged to Frida Kahlo\u2019s parents, who bought it after giving her the Casa Azul \u2014 where she grew up and lived with Diego Rivera<\/a> \u2014 as a wedding gift.<\/p>\n

While the Kahlo House features elements familiar to Frida Kahlo fans \u2014 like a traditional kitchen and garden \u2014 its true value is the new perspective it provides on her life. It reveals intimate details about her close-knit family, including her photographer father, Guillermo, and her sister and caregiver, Cristina.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can find a more humane approach to her story, to her origins,\u201d said museum director Ad\u00e1n Garc\u00eda, adding that visitors will see that behind the great artist was a child who \u201cstruggled with polio and who was fond of her father and her mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frida herself lived in the house for a time, and it was inhabited by her relatives until just two years ago.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press took an exclusive tour of this new museum that includes the only murals painted by Kahlo on record.<\/p>\n

The basement<\/p>\n

As a child, Frida Kahlo loved to collect insects and use a microscope to see their wings. That microscope is in the basement of the Kahlo House, a very special place for the painter. It was there where, already married to Diego Rivera, she used to find a space for herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she fought with Diego, she would come here to the basement for refuge,\u201d said Frida Kahlo\u2019s great-niece, Mara Romeo Kahlo. \u201cIt was like her place of peace; this was her home.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Asian<\/p>\n

Asian dolls Frida Kahlo purchased during a trip to San Francisco are displayed in the basement of the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

Asian dolls Frida Kahlo purchased during a trip to San Francisco are displayed in the basement of the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

The basement also features a unique collection, including votive offerings painted by Frida and Asian dolls she purchased during a trip to San Francisco.<\/p>\n

The kitchen<\/p>\n

Romeo Kahlo remembers having breakfast in the kitchen surrounded by murals of flowers and fruit trees. The murals were created by Frida and inspired by the plants found in the house\u2019s garden. The murals were painted over during a kitchen modernization, which paradoxically helped preserve them. After special treatment, they can now be seen in all their splendor.<\/p>\n

The murals bear an inscription that reads \u201cthe inn of the sparrows,\u201d a Spanish pun on the word gorrones \u2014 or uninvited guests \u2014 that sounds like gorriones (sparrows), who came to eat at the house.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who came, whether invited or not, could always find a place at this table,\u201d said Garc\u00eda, the museum director.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Murals<\/p>\n

Murals created by Frida Kahlo adorn the kitchen of the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

Murals created by Frida Kahlo adorn the kitchen of the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

The darkroom<\/p>\n

Visitors can step into the photography studio of Frida\u2019s father, where an interactive camera takes virtual black-and-white photos, demonstrating the process of developing on paper.<\/p>\n

The museum also displays photographs of a young Guillermo Kahlo and tells the story of how he arrived in Mexico from his native Germany. It also details his first marriage, his two daughters, and how he met Frida\u2019s mother, Matilde Calder\u00f3n. A celebrated photographer, Kahlo was the first official photographer for Mexican President Porfirio D\u00edaz<\/a>. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A view of the darkroom that belonged to Frida Kahlo\u2019s father, Guillermo, who was an official photographer for Mexican President Porfirio D\u00edaz, inside the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

A view of the darkroom that belonged to Frida Kahlo\u2019s father, Guillermo, who was an official photographer for Mexican President Porfirio D\u00edaz, inside the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

The other half of Frida\u2019s heart<\/p>\n

In order for Frida to endure the many surgeries she went through in her adult life, she had someone by her side who took care of her: her younger sister Cristina.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe used to talk about her like she was the other half of her heart,\u201d Garc\u00eda said.<\/p>\n

Cristina Kahlo, a single mother herself, founded a charity to help hundreds of other women in the same situation as her.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Mother\u2019s Day note from Frida Kahlo to her sister Cristina and a 1946 photo of them together in New York are on display at the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

A Mother\u2019s Day note from Frida Kahlo to her sister Cristina and a 1946 photo of them together in New York are on display at the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Every Saturday, Romeo Kahlo remembers, \u201cthe gate was opened here and a basic food basket was given for more than 500 single women.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new museum also highlights Frida\u2019s relationship with her mother, a figure who has been historically overshadowed by her father.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is that they had a close relationship,\u201d Romeo Kahlo said, noting that her great-grandmother Matilde was actually the first to wear flowers in her hair \u2014 a look long associated with Frida.<\/p>\n

The family decided to paint the house red and keep it that way over the years, because this color symbolizes \u201cthe heart of the Kahlo family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Other notable objects<\/p>\n

The museum provides a glimpse into the Kahlo family\u2019s extensive correspondence, including letters from Frida marked with kisses of Mexican pink lipstick.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese letters provided the guideline to write all these anecdotes that you\u2019ll discover throughout the museum,\u201d said curator Adriana Miranda.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Frida<\/p>\n

Frida Kahlo\u2019s great-niece Mara Romeo Kahlo speaks during an interview inside the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

Frida Kahlo\u2019s great-niece Mara Romeo Kahlo speaks during an interview inside the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Visitors will see dresses with intricate embroidery and pieces of pre-Hispanic jewelry that Frida famously wore in photographs.<\/p>\n

The bathroom is intact and recalls Frida Kahlo\u2019s 1938 painting \u201cWhat the Water Gave Me,\u201d featuring her feet in a bathtub.<\/p>\n

A corridor displays a mirror that Frida had made for an exhibition in New York. In another room, \u201cA Tray of Poppies\u201d \u2014 one of Frida Kahlo\u2019s first works \u2014 is on view.<\/p>\n

A local architecture<\/p>\n

David Rockwell, an architect and board member of the Kahlo Foundation, collaborated with the family to create the exhibition spaces. Some sections such as the curved steps in the courtyard were rebuilt to more closely resemble the house in its original state.<\/p>\n

He said artists from all over Mexico were commissioned to create the different pots and pieces that make up the patio.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I love about this house is the warmth. The warmth of the material, the warmth of tile, the quality of the wood, the care that\u2019s been taken into restoring it,\u201d said Rockwell, noting the ceilings are a particular favorite material of the house. \u201cAll these ceilings are quite different, they all create different kinds of atmospheres and conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The museum is located at Aguayo 54, in the Carmen neighborhood of Coyoac\u00e1n in Mexico City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 The long-held secrets of the Kahlo family, including those of legendary artist Frida, are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[32897,32892,437,434,435,436,9887,32896,32899,438,32893,146,122,85,46,1129,16632,32898,1326,32894,32895,126],"class_list":{"0":"post-40717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-adriana-miranda","9":"tag-anni-frid-lyngstad","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-arts-and-design","12":"tag-artsanddesign","13":"tag-artsdesign","14":"tag-central-america","15":"tag-cristina-kahlo","16":"tag-david-rockwell","17":"tag-design","18":"tag-diego-rivera","19":"tag-entertainment","20":"tag-general-news","21":"tag-il","22":"tag-israel","23":"tag-jwd-evergreen","24":"tag-latin-america","25":"tag-matilde-caldern","26":"tag-mexico","27":"tag-mexico-city","28":"tag-porfirio-daz","29":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}