From Frida with love

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25 letters written by Frida Kahlo, some never published An indispensable read for understanding an iconic 20th-century artist.

In 2007, on the occasion of the centenary of Frida Kahlo’s birth, the Association of the Museums of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and Dolores Olmedo Patiño announced to the world the existence of a new historical and artistic archive, unearthed at the Casa Azul, home of the Mexican artist couple. Hidden for more than 50 years in the most intimate rooms of the house, an immense amount of documents, books, photographs, drawings, medicines and clothing helped rewrite and complete the history of the two artists. And particularly that of Frida Kahlo, whose artistic value has long been obscured by a morbid interest in biographical data alone. The volume collects 25 letters written by Frida herself, most of which have never been published: a vivid and powerful writing, from which emerge key themes such as existential suffering, the search for self-realization, the affirmation of “Mexican-ness” and opposition to patriarchal dialectics. In closing the volume, the reproduction of the original documents will reveal not only the handwriting and flow of the writing, sometimes broken by corrections and afterthoughts, but also the small sketches with which Frida completed her missives. An indispensable reading for understanding the work and poetics of a symbolic artist of the 20th century.

BY
Diego Sileo – Theorist, art historian and curator of the PAC Pavilion of Contemporary Art in Milan, holds a doctorate in contemporary Latin American art from the University of Udine. In 2010 he was part, as the only European member, of the research project on the new archive of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera at the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City. She has participated in numerous Italian and international conferences and has several essays for journals and exhibition catalogs to her credit.