Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1525827
From top: A portrait of Diego Rivera hangs in the home. The artist's studio with an easel gifted by Nelson Rockefeller. The vivid exterior of Casa Azul, Museo Frida Kahlo. architectural interventions, acquiring in 1937 the area that became the garden. They permanently relocated to Casa Azul in 1941 after the passing of her father. Fortuitously, Rivera paid off the mortgage on the house to ensure it would always remain in the family. In 1946, during a two-year period where Kahlo's chronic injury rendered her incapacitated and painting from bed, he commissioned p r o m i n e n t Mexican architect Juan O'Gorman to design Kahlo's d o w n s t a i r s wing, complete w i t h s t u d i o and bedroom, alongside a room displaying the c o u p l e 's p r e - C o l u m b i a n the amputation of a leg weakened Kahlo. Her early death at age 47 from pneumonia — combined with years of drinking, smoking, and pain medication — was brought on from participating in a political protest in the rain from her wheelchair alongside Rivera. If These Walls Could Talk Inside the dramatic ultramarine masonry walls of this traditional home, the world of Frida and Diego is movingly relayed via a trove of each artist's paintings, alongside personal talismans, their treasured collections of folk art (including ex-votos) and Pre- Columbian sculpture, household furnishings and pottery, and rare ephemera including vintage photographs, documents, books, and journals. The ambiance is little changed since Kahlo's death. Casa Azul opened to the public in 1958 and is administered by a trust set up by Rivera in 1957. At Casa Azul is the DNA of Kahlo's life and creativity, as well as the couple's dramatic, often tortured, love story across the decades, conflating the different eras of Frida's life. The artist's bedroom is where she recovered from the bus accident at age 18, which shaped her narrative as a survivor, and where she changed directions from medical studies to painting. Her self-portraits began in this room, thanks to a mirror installed on the bed posts by her mother. The studio looking out upon a tropical garden and courtyard not only contains the easel given to her by Nelson Rockefeller, between Diego and Frida for high drama. Meeting first during her student days when Rivera was at work on frescos for her high school, the pair reunited when she sought his critique of her work while he was completing murals for the Ministry of Public Education. They also shared a calling: fervent activism for the Mexican Communist Party. Their improbable romance was born thanks to the bold personality of Kahlo, well matched to Rivera, one of the times' renowned artist celebrities. They were an odd couple — iconic and older Rivera, a monumental force in talent and girth, and the petite Kahlo, who was like a beautiful, albeit determined dove. United by art and charisma, theirs was not an easy marriage, due to unfaithfulness on both parts, including with the famous and notorious: actresses and Kahlo's own sister for Rivera; male and female lovers for Kahlo, from Leon Trotsky and Georgia O'Keeffe to photographer Nickolas Muray, whom we have to thank for Kahlo's most captivating portraits. At the end of the day, Rivera and Kahlo's love for one another and mutual creativity triumphed. Twice married to each other, he often slept in the hospital to be near her during her final months, after an unsuccessful bone graft and treasures. The addition spoke to Mexico's archaeological heritage, constructed of local volcanic rock, with ceramic vases embedded in its façade. The interior courtyard boasted an enchanting garden featuring a fountain, reflection pool, and stepped pyramid, with pre- Columbian artifacts throughout the grounds. Drama + Devotion: A Tempestuous, Unforgettable Love Story While marriages between artists are not uncommon — and often turbulent, involving alcohol and infidelity; remember Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, Willem and Elaine de Kooning — nothing eclipsed the romance BOB SCHALKWIJK 134