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As the Dallas Museum of Art unpacks "Frida: Beyond the Myth" (through November 17) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, plans its own take on the artist in Spring 2026, interest in Frida Kahlo (1907– 1954) has never been greater. This unique and powerful artist's intimate, symbol-laden works — which speak to her own biography during a transformative time in her country's cultural and political history — have become icons of female and Mexican identity, whose influence goes far beyond the realm of art history. To commune with the spirit of Kahlo, you need to make a pilgrimage to Museo Frida Kahlo in the historic Mexico City neighborhood of Coyoacán. Once a village on the outskirts of the capital, now it's become a destination to discover the holy grail of Frida's life, times, and art. Don't expect a neutral, white-cube art space; as the name suggests, the Casa Azul pulsates with color, reflecting the rich and creative life Kahlo led here, initially with her comfortably middle-class family (her parents were a German-born photographer and a Mexican woman of indigenous lineage), then more famously with her equally mythic artist-husband Diego Rivera, from their tumultuous marriage in 1929 until her death in 1954. After her passing, Rivera established the museum as a gift for their fellow citizens, collaborating with the couple's friend, museographer and poet Carlos Pellicer, who was tapped for Architectural Lineage The birthplace of Kahlo is where she spent decades of her life painting, often while confined to her bed, a lingering effect of a horrific teenage injury suffered when she was riding a bus that collided with a trolley, which resulted in an iron handrail piercing her body. It's also where she and Rivera lived during the significant final decade and half of her life, where she passed away at the age of 47, and where friends and family gathered to commemorate her wake. Consequently, few places for any artist in history resonate with such personal significance as Casa Azul. When the artist's father, Guillermo Kahlo, acquired the property of the Hacienda del Carmen, it was a rural hamlet an hour outside Mexico City. Designed in a French style and completed in 1904, Casa Azul served as the Kahlo home for a family of six. During the 1930s, Rivera and Kahlo began a series of A Pilgrimage for By Catherine D. Anspon Inside the Artist's Casa Azul in Mexico City the intuitive installations throughout the house, which serve as a shrine to the world of Frida and Diego. Originally a little-visited attraction frequented mostly by those in the art set, today Casa Azul is a touchstone of every cultural trip to Mexico City, as well as a gateway to Coyoacán, with its 16th-century heritage, featuring parks and gardens, UNESCO and archaeological sites, museums, and murals. SEBASTIAN MONSALVE DIEGO RIVERA AND FRIDA KAHLO ARCHIVE, BANCO DE MÉXICO. PHOTO BY GUILLERMO KAHLO. Casa Azul, Coyoacán, Mexico City Frida Kahlo, 1932 133