Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and More: Visiting Mexico City’s House Museums
Frida Kahlo’s life and studio were just a few steps up from home. Born to Spanish immigrants in Mexico, she became one of the last women of her era to survive a kidnapping. Her work as a surrealist painter and activist helped define the movement.
Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and More: Visiting Mexico City’s House Museums
For most visitors to Mexico City, the Museo del Templo Mayor, an art and history museum to the south, is the center of the city. But for those who come to the city looking for a real experience beyond the typical museum tour, it is worth starting with the Museo del Templo Mayor.
The first place to visit is the small museum in which Diego Rivera was born, then continue on to the home of Frida Kahlo. There are also important collections of works by artists including Velazquez, the French painter and sculptor Auguste Rodin.
In the late 1950s, Diego Rivera became enamored of Frida Kahlo’s surrealist painting style. At the time, she was one of the last major women of her era to survive a kidnapping. Frida’s work was not only revolutionary, it was groundbreaking: her paintings were said to be the first to use a technique called “paint-a-paper” to create the surrealist style. She was an artist who had a hard time working outside the limits of what was comfortable and accepted.
But Frida’s most important legacy was her work as an activist. In the 1950s, she became an outspoken opponent of the U.S. government’s war on international communism, and she was a lifelong advocate of the Mexican independence movement. She was a tireless advocate of social justice, equality, peace, and human rights.
It wasn’t until a small, well-respected museum dedicated to Diego Rivera that people could see a side of him that they hadn’t seen before. When art and culture is under attack, it’s important to visit places that protect our cultural heritage in a time of increasing censorship and censorship of art.
Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo
