All about Frida: The Frida Kahlo Museum in Coyoacán

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Whenever you are in Mexico City it is a MUST:

The Frida Kahlo Museum, also known as the Blue House (La Casa Azul) for the structure’s cobalt-blue walls, is a historic house museum and art museum dedicated to the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. For me it is one of the best art places I have seen. It is located in the Colonia del Carmen neighborhood of Coyoacán in Mexico City. The building was the birthplace of Kahlo and is also the home where she grew up, lived with her husband Diego Rivera for a number of years, and in one of the rooms on the upper floor she died in 1954. In 1958, Diego Rivera’s will donated the home and its contents in order to turn it into a museum in Frida’s honor.

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The museum contains a collection of artwork by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and other artists along with the couple’s Mexican folk art, pre-Hispanic artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, personal items, and more. The collection is displayed in the rooms of the house which remains much as it was in the 1950s. Today, it is the most popular museum in Coyoacán and one of the most visited in Mexico City.

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Originally the house was the family home of Frida Kahlo, but since 1958, it has served as museum dedicated to her life and work. With about 25.000 visitors monthly, it is one of Mexico City’s most-visited museums, and the most-visited site in Coyoacán. Be prepared for a long queue and a long waiting time. But it is all worth it!

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The museum is supported solely by ticket sales and donations. The museum demonstrates the lifestyle of wealthy Mexican bohemian artists and intellectuals during the first half of the 20th century. According to records and testimony, the house today looks much as it did in 1951, decorated with Mexican folk art, Kahlo’s personal art collection, a large collection of pre-Hispanic artifacts, traditional Mexican cookware, linens, personal mementos such as photographs, postcards and letters, and works by José María Velasco, Paul Klee and Diego Rivera. Much of the collection is now in display cases designed for their preservation.

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The museum consists of ten rooms. You also can visit the formal living room, where Frida and Diego entertained notable Mexican and international visitors and friends such as Sergei Eisenstein, Nelson Rockefeller, George Gershwin, caricaturist Miguel Covarrubias and actresses Dolores del Río and María Félix. And of course the Russian Leon Trotsky while he and his wife obtained asylum in Mexico.