Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) was born in Coyoacán, Mexico City, where she lived and worked throughout her life. Celebrated for her highly personal and symbolically rich paintings, Kahlo is best known for her self-portraits, which explore themes of identity, pain, femininity, and Mexican heritage. Working primarily in oil on canvas or masonite, her work blends elements of folk art, surrealism, and realism, often featuring motifs such as the human body, flora and fauna, and indigenous Mexican culture. Though she was associated with Surrealists like André Breton, Kahlo insisted her work was grounded in her own reality rather than dreams. Her art has been acquired by major institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Louvre (which purchased one of her works in 1939, making her the first 20th-century Mexican artist in its collection), and the Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City. Posthumously, her fame has grown exponentially, making her a global cultural icon and a fixture in both art history and popular culture. Kahlo’s market is robust and highly liquid, with her paintings achieving multi-million-dollar figures at auction and strong international demand from collectors and museums alike.