Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray
June 29, 2024 – October 13, 2024

In its commitment to connecting people, history, and culture, the Upcountry History Museum will present FRIDA KAHLO: THROUGH THE LENS OF NICKOLAS MURAY, an exhibition organized by the Nickolas Muray Photo Archives and managed by GuestCurator Traveling Exhibitions.

On display June 29 through October 13, 2024, the exhibit presents an intimate look at Frida Kahlo, Mexico’s most prolific and well-known female artist, through the camera lens of photographer Nickolas Muray.

In May 1931, Muray (1892-1965) traveled to Mexico on vacation where he met Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), a woman he would never forget.  The two started a romance that continued, both on and off for the next ten years and a friendship that lasted until her death in 1954.

Approximately 50 photographic portraits taken by Muray of Kahlo are featured in the exhibition.  The photographs, dating from 1937 to 1946, explore Muray’s unique perspective, as Kahlo’s friend, companion and confidant. Muray’s photographs bring to light Kahlo’s deep interest in her Mexican heritage, her life and travels, and the people with whom she shared a close friendship.

Born in Hungary, Nickolas Muray became a successful New York fashion and commercial photographer known for his portraits of celebrities, politicians, socialites, and artists.  Having experimented with color from early on in his career, he found his most colorful model in Frida Kahlo.

Muray photographed Kahlo more than any of his subjects.  The portraits featured in the exhibition have made their way into a variety of media and popular culture and are integral to the world’s understanding of who Frida Kahlo was as an individual behind her artwork.

Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, in Coyoacan, Mexico City, Mexico.  Kahlo began painting after she was severely injured in a bus accident.  Kahlo later became politically active and married fellow communist artist Diego Rivera in 1929.  She exhibited her paintings in Paris and Mexico before her death in 1954.

In addition to Muray’s candid photographs of Kahlo, the exhibition also includes reproductions of various Kahlo paintings and letters exchanged between the two artists.  

Support provided by

Tracy and Charles Hardaway