DALLAS, TX.- This winter, the Dallas Museum of Art shares with visitors the rare opportunity to see five exquisite works by the acclaimed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. In her lifetime, Kahlo’s work was well-known in artistic circles, particularly in Mexico and the United States. In the years since her death in 1954, her work has garnered ever-increasing critical attention and international praise. Today, her fame is so widespread that she has gone from being simply a celebrated artist, to a global cultural phenomenon.

Opening on February 28, 2021, Frida Kahlo: Five Works includes four paintings and a drawing on loan from a Private Collection, courtesy of the Galería Arvil in Mexico City. In the new installation, each work will act as a vehicle for understanding larger aspects of Kahlo’s artistic practice. This includes her development of a personal language of metaphorical imagery and her exploration of still life painting late in her career. At the same time, as with many of her most well-known works, these pieces reflect Kahlo’s experiences and the events of her adventurous life.

Frida Kahlo: Five Works will be on view through June 20, 2021 on the Atrium Overlook on Level 4 and opens simultaneously with Devoted: Art and Spirituality in Mexico and New Mexico featuring works from the DMA’s Latin American collection. Both exhibitions are curated by Dr. Mark A. Castro, Jorge Baldor Curator of Latin American Art, and are included in free general admission.

“It is always exciting to delve into the works of a dynamic artist like Frida Kahlo,” said Dr. Agustín Arteaga, the DMA’s Eugene McDermott Director. “This generous loan will offer our visitors a chance to look closely at these five works and explore the many stories they can tell about Kahlo, her remarkable work, and her inspiring life.”

Frida Kahlo: Five Works includes:

The drawing, View of New York (1932), captures the vista from Kahlo’s window at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel, where she and husband Diego Rivera stayed during a segment of their sojourn in the United States.

The intimate painting Diego and Frida 1929 – 1944 (1944), still housed in the original shell covered frame selected by Kahlo, is a personal memento created by the artist to mark her fifteen-year relationship with Rivera.

In Sun and Life (1947) Kahlo draws on her extensive knowledge of art and spirituality from throughout history to weave an intense rumination on the cycle of life and death.

In Still Life with Parrot and Flag (1951) and Still Life (1951) we see Kahlo exploring the potential of a genre that would dominate her final years – the still life. In both works, Kahlo pushes the boundaries of traditional still-life painting, transforming her assemblages of native Mexican fruits, national symbols, and ancient artifacts into ruminations on her own identity.

Among the most exciting aspects of Frida Kahlo: Five Works will be an examination of three of Kahlo’s paintings conducted by Castro and the DMA’s Painting Conservator Laura Hartman using non-invasive imaging techniques such as x-radiography and infrared photography. These techniques, which allow us to peer below the surface of Kahlo’s works, will offer new insights into how she painted.

“At a time when art has become a critical source of solace and inspiration for many of us, this small installation offers a glimpse into the work of one today’s most admired artists,” said Dr. Castro. “At the heart of the sensational story of Kahlo’s life are captivating works like these; they are visceral in their emotion and vibrant in their execution.”