Kahlo's Garden

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who died in 1954, is a hot topic of late. First, a group of 25 unpublished love letters written not to her husband, Diego Rivera, but to her lover, Spanish artist Jose Bartoli, sold at auction for $137,000 back in April. Then, earlier this month, a London gallery put on exhibit her colorful wardrobe, apparently secreted away in the bathroom of the Mexico City home she shared with Rivera. And over the past weekend, the New York Botanical Garden in New York City opened Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life, a reimagination of her Casa Azul home and studio. The NYBG's Enid A. Haupt Conservatory is transformed into Kahlo's garden, with folkart and native plants, while the gallery features 14 of her paintings and works on paper, including Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940), Flower of Life (1944), and Still Life with Parrot and Flag (1951). This exhibit is the first to focus on the artist's engagement with nature. It is on view through November 1.  

Image: An evocation of Frida Kahlo's studio overlooking her garden at the NYBG's Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life. Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen.