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16 Rare Photos Of Frida Kahlo During The Last Years Of Her Life To Celebrate Her 110th Birthday
On this very day in 1907, modern art icon Frida Kahlo was born in a borough of Mexico City. Though she only lived to be 47 years old, she left behind a legacy of art that still fascinates and inspires to this day. These rare photos, taken by famed French photographer Gisèle Freund during the early 50's, document the last days of a magnificent creator and cultural icon, and serve as a fitting tribute to her memory.
Freund came to live with Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera, in Mexico City after fleeing from political tension in Argentina. The year was 1950, and Frida Kahlo's health was in sharp decline, largely due to a series of unsuccessful spinal surgeries she had undergone. She was also mentally and emotionally unwell, and her art became dark and grim - her clothes, however, remained colourful and eccentric. Though it was a tumultuous time for Kahlo, the photos Gisèle Freund captured of her show the sombre beauty of the troubled paintress, and the dedication to her work that she kept until her very last breath.
Frida Kahlo passed away at home in July of 1954, just a year after Gisèle Freund had returned to Paris. Freund's photo collection of Kahlo was published by Harry N. Abrams in 2015, and was exhibited at Throckmorton Fine Art in New York City that same year. Peer into the final years of one of the world's most tragically beautiful lives below, and learn more here.
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#1
Maike Weidner 8 years ago
so vibrant and unapologetic- about just beeing herself! The lines in her face drwan in passion and love and strength in pain and endurance and loss. She looks so willfully, sadly smiling here... when i look at her paintings, her clothes, her enviroment it just blows you away this violent vibrence in everything... sorry... Frida Carlorgasm is over now!
Eugenie de la Fosse 8 years ago
an Amazing woman, she has such an Aura around herself and a very strong will. Her paintings are very special they tell you about her life, even the beautiful stones she is wearing tell a lot about her.
Terry Kosinski 8 years ago
I absolutely love her colorful style of art. My friend and neighbor her style of art is similar to her style. Marcia has given me so many stunning pieces of her work. My husband & I we saw a movie years ago about her life.
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#2
Rochelle Foles 8 years ago
@MaikeWeidner beautifully stated. That is evernalways how I carry her, as inspiration in both life and art.
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Tianne Yates 8 years ago
Lovely lovely Frida, l thought at first her dogs were part of the statue! Silly me 🎨🐕💜
ispeak catanese 8 years ago
She looks lovely, I really like the way she wears her shawl. And her dogs are the cutest, oddest little critters!
Gaie Tough 8 years ago
She is a Diva before Divas were invented . Every bit of her is a work of art .
#3
#4
Gaie Tough 8 years ago
She looks happy content and very relaxed Frida as never seen before . Awesome
Kim Lorton 8 years ago
My favorite.. I know she had to be in such extreme pain, and some pain can't be eased even with drugs. But here, she looks so peaceful like she stopped to acknowledge even she, had an inner source of peace, beyond her world of pain, if only for a moment....
#5
Hilary Burgess 8 years ago
Would have loved to have seen this in color. It's so stunning even in B&W.
Andrea Manzano 8 years ago
She was at the Blue house....you can visit this place in Coyoacán, Mexico city
Load More Replies... Kendra Hunter 8 years ago
Wow. You can see she is hurting a lot. Still she dresses beautifully and her surroundings speak of her beauty.
Patricia Schwarz 8 years ago
Superb photographs of dynamic. and extraordinary, Frida Kalho....these image bring her back to life!
Debra Brooks Kapellakis 8 years ago
The garden and the dog make the picture just that much better.
#6
Gaie Tough 8 years ago
An awesomely ,haunting beauty . I think I just fell in love with a paintress extraordinaire .
Bambi 8 years ago
I see you want some attention. Well, here you go (tosses bag of attention). That should keep you satisfied.
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Maike Weidner 8 years ago
the veil hanging on the stand looks like the one as inself Portrait as a Tehuana self-portr...ehuana.jpg 
Barbara Millikan 8 years ago
Has this image been reversed? I other pictures she is right handed and the camera in the painting is on the left.
An Ambitious Lemon 8 years ago
I know that is supposed to the the portrait of her father, but I can't help but notice a striking resemblance to Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec
Kendra Hunter 8 years ago
What a great easel! I've never seen this photo, what a treasure to discover it.
#8
Ana T. 8 years ago
those aren't "exotic" clothing , the clothing that she used are traditional women blouses and skirts wear by the indigenous mexican people of Oaxaca descend of mixe tribe., ancient people that collide and live along the aztecs and mayans.
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#9
#10
Wanda Queen 8 years ago
You might be cool, but you'll never be Frida Kahlo having a smoke next to a (an Aztec?) statue cool. #truth
DancingToMyself 8 years ago
This would be enough : "You'll never be Frida Kahlo."
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#11
Psic. B. Elizabeth Herrejón Cortés 8 years ago
Yes, those little fellas are xoloitzcuintles <3
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Lynn Cuervo 8 years ago
Those dogs were in an earlier picture....I thought they were sculptures!
#12
just a thought 8 years ago
Omg ! My attention immediately went to the tiny bed on her table and a small doll sleeping on it just like like she is ...
Tonia Williams 8 years ago
Wouldn't have seen that had you not pointed it out. She was so motivated by and to create symbols in her life.
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Maureen Zappellini 8 years ago
As an artist with severe chronic pain, Frida is my patron saint. I really relate to this image of her in bed. Wish I was as great an artist!
Anne-Louise Ciel 8 years ago
is that a Georgia O'Keefe painting on the wall? They were good friends and it looks like her style.
Cathy Baker 8 years ago
If you ever go to Mexico City, you can visit her home. Her bed is still there. It's in the Coyoacán district, called La Casa Azul. You also get a free ticket to visit Diego Rivera's museum Anahuacalli. Go, go, go!! It's amazing!
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#13
Cathy Baker 8 years ago
Um... those aren't just "lumps of ugly sculpture". They're pre-Colombian artifacts that she and Diego collected. Although lumps of ugly sculpture is a pretty good description! LOL!
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#15
Lesley Matthewson 8 years ago
Look at picture No.7, opposite way round. So one of the negatives have been flipped
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#16
Tonia Williams 8 years ago
Books and found treasures stacked everywhere....a kindred spirit for sure.
Agnes Jekyll 8 years ago
This image is so haunting. Those paintings are amazing--and the images of her hands--it gives me an idea of what she was drawn to, and I also understand why Diego kept so many of her things unchanged after she died (and her clothes that he had locked up until after his death)--this is all part of her work--how she saw everything
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What do you think ?
Vivien Szaniszlo 8 years ago
I love her art, I am so happy to see a little piece of her life. She was a great painter, she had a beautiful soul.
Ana T. 8 years ago
those aren't "exotic" clothing , the clothing that she always used are traditional women blouses and skirts wear by the indigenous mexican people of Oaxaca descend of mixe tribe., ancient people that collide and live along the aztecs and mayans. the dress in her painting " las dos fridas"( the two fridas) is a traditional tehuana (the-U-ana)
Cenk Karaferya 8 years ago
Fell in love even more with her when I visited her house in MC. Now, these rare pics just brought that house alive with Frida in my mind.
Kim Lorton 8 years ago
She truly lived her life, with no exceptions, and no apologies. She had to. There was no other way.
Rainbow screen 8 years ago
I have never seen an artist like this... an artist that performs art itself
Mibo Dumplings 8 years ago
Pls don't hate on me but... I am a little unfamiliar with her can someone please explain who she is and why she's so great? Thanks
Claudia Lozano 8 years ago
Frida Kahlo a great human being, breaking the rules and stereotypes of her gender on that epoch. Amazing and recognized artist who expressed her pain and sorrow in her paints and style of life. Applauded in Paris, Vogue displayed her humble beauty and passion for her Mexican culture. Broken spinal, multiple fractures and heart broken, but a warrior with pencils and poetry.
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Vivien Szaniszlo 8 years ago
I love her art, I am so happy to see a little piece of her life. She was a great painter, she had a beautiful soul.
Ana T. 8 years ago
those aren't "exotic" clothing , the clothing that she always used are traditional women blouses and skirts wear by the indigenous mexican people of Oaxaca descend of mixe tribe., ancient people that collide and live along the aztecs and mayans. the dress in her painting " las dos fridas"( the two fridas) is a traditional tehuana (the-U-ana)
Cenk Karaferya 8 years ago
Fell in love even more with her when I visited her house in MC. Now, these rare pics just brought that house alive with Frida in my mind.
Kim Lorton 8 years ago
She truly lived her life, with no exceptions, and no apologies. She had to. There was no other way.
Rainbow screen 8 years ago
I have never seen an artist like this... an artist that performs art itself
Mibo Dumplings 8 years ago
Pls don't hate on me but... I am a little unfamiliar with her can someone please explain who she is and why she's so great? Thanks
Claudia Lozano 8 years ago
Frida Kahlo a great human being, breaking the rules and stereotypes of her gender on that epoch. Amazing and recognized artist who expressed her pain and sorrow in her paints and style of life. Applauded in Paris, Vogue displayed her humble beauty and passion for her Mexican culture. Broken spinal, multiple fractures and heart broken, but a warrior with pencils and poetry.
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