Inside the Museum: Museo Frida Kahlo

On a tree-lined street in Mexico City sits a house that will make any passerby do a double take. The brilliant blue walls are impossible to miss. They surround the Frida Kahlo Museum, dedicated to the artist’s life and work. The blue walls gave the museum its nickname: La Casa Azul (lah KAH-suh ah-ZOOL), or the Blue House.

The museum’s 10 rooms are organized around a central courtyard. Curators have arranged the rooms much as they were during Kahlo’s life. Many of the artist’s personal belongings, including letters, photographs, and painting supplies, are on display. Notice the mirror on the table in the photograph above. Kahlo is known for her self-portraits and would have counted the mirror among her tools.

The brightly colored traditional skirts, blouses, and jewelry Kahlo used to perfect her iconic look can also be found in the museum, above. Rivera’s hat and coat still hang from hooks on his bedroom wall. And the kitchen contains pots, utensils, and other items used during their life in La Casa Azul, below. How would you describe Kahlo’s design aesthetic?

Several of Kahlo’s paintings are housed in the museum, including her last, Viva la Vida, below. She signed it just a few days before her death in 1954.

Kahlo and Rivera were also avid art collectors. The museum contains works by their contemporaries, as well as many examples of Mexican folk art and precolonial Indigenous works. There’s even an Aztec-inspired step-pyramid made of volcanic rock in the courtyard, shown at the top of the page.