Frida Kahlo Museum, also known as the Blue House, contains a collection of artworks by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and other artists, along with the couple’s Mexican folk art, pre-Hispanic artefacts, photographs, memorabilia, personal items, and more. Today, it is one of the most visited museums in Mexico City.
The museum building was the birthplace of Kahlo and the home where she grew up, lived with her husband Diego Rivera for a number of years, and eventually died, in one of the rooms on the upper floor. In 1958, Diego Rivera donated the house and its contents in order to turn it into a museum in Frida’s honour. Today, the house itself remains much as it was in the 1950s, at the time of Frida Kahlo’s life. With about 25,000 visitors monthly, it is one of Mexico City’s most-visited museums. The museum demonstrates the lifestyle of wealthy Mexican bohemian artists and intellectuals during the first half of the 20th century. The entrance ticket to the Casa Azul allows for free admission to the nearby Anahuacalli Museum, which was also established by Diego Rivera.
According to the records, the house today looks much as it did in 1951. It’s decorated with Mexican folk art, Kahlo’s personal art collection, a large collection of pre-Hispanic artefacts, traditional Mexican cookware, linens, personal mementos such as photographs, postcards and letters, and works by José María Velasco, Paul Klee and Diego Rivera.
The museum consists of ten rooms. On the ground floor there is a room that contains some of Kahlo’s minor works. This room originally was the formal living room, where Frida and Diego entertained notable Mexican and international visitors and friends. The second and third rooms are dedicated to personal effects and mementos and to some of Rivera’s works respectively. The second room is filled with everyday items used by Frida, letters, photographs and notes. On the walls there are pre-Hispanic necklaces and folk dresses, especially the Tehuana-style ones that were Frida’s trademark. The fourth room contains contemporary paintings by artists such as Paul Klee, José María Velasco, Joaquín Clausel, Celia Calderón Orozco, and a sculpture by Mardonio Magaña. The fifth room houses two large Judas figures, “mujeres bonitos” figures from Tlatilco, State of Mexico, and figures from the Teotihuacan culture. Rooms six and seven are the kitchen and dining room. Both are in a typically Mexican style, with bright yellow tiles on the walls and the floor, blue and yellow tile counters and a long yellow table, where sister Ruth stated that Frida spent much of her time. The two rooms are filled with large earthenware pots, plates, utensils, glassware and more, all of which came from Metepec, Oaxaca, Tlaquepaque and Guanajuato that are known for their handcrafted items. Next to the dining room there is a stairwell that leads from the courtyard area to the upper floor. This area also contains a large number of folk art items and includes about 2000 votive paintings from the colonial period to the 20th century, other colonial era work and more Judas figures. The two rooms of the upper floor that are open to the public contain Frida’s final bedroom and studio area. This is located in the wing that Rivera had built. The original furniture is still there. In one corner, her ashes are on display in an urn, which is surrounded by a funeral mask, some personal items and mirrors on the ceiling.
Like most of the other structures in the area, the house is built around a central courtyard with a garden space (a tradition since colonial times). As it was built in 1904, it originally had French-style decorative features but later it was changed to the plainer façade seen today.
The building has two floors with various bedrooms, a studio space, large kitchen and dining room. The entrance hall is decorated with a mosaic in natural stone. Originally, the house enclosed only three sides of this courtyard, but later the forth side was added to enclose it entirely.
Originally, the exterior of the house was decorated in a French-inspired motif, which was popular in Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The house was constructed in 1904 and Frida Kahlo was born there in 1907. It remained her family home throughout her life, and she spent the last thirteen years of it there as well.
When she was 18, a trolley accident left Frida badly mangled. She spent about two years confined to her bed in casts and orthopaedic devices. It was then that she began to paint as a way to pass the time.
Frida met Diego Rivera, the famous painter and her future mentor-husband, while he was painting murals at the Secretaria de Educacion Publica building. She invited him to the Caza Azul to see her works. Rivera soon became a regular visitor to the house. Other notable artists followed making the house one of the area’s meeting places.
By 1937, the house was abandoned and shuttered although it was still the property of Frida’s father.
In 1941, just before Frida’s father’s death, Rivera moved into the house, although he maintained another residence in San Angel. During this time, Rivera constructed the wing which faces Londres Street and encloses the courtyard completely. This section was built of local volcanic rocks with ceramic vases set into it. A terraced roof was built, decorated with marine shells and a mirror. Frida’s studio and bedroom were moved there. To separate the new from the old, a stone wall divides the patio area in two, in front of which is a fountain, a stepped pyramid, a reflection pool and a room for the couple’s archaeological collection.
The exterior was also changed from the original French style to the one seen today. The redesign work on the house was done by Juan O’Gorman in 1946. As the couple’s home, the house continued to receive distinguished visitors from both Mexico and abroad.
Frida died on the upper floor of the house on 13 July 1954, at the age of 47. Four years after her death, the house was converted into a museum dedicated to her life and works. Rivera donated the house to the nation of Mexico and set up a foundation for its preservation. The museum was relatively obscure for many years as Frida Kahlo was little known beyond the art world until the 1990s. In the 1980s, a movement called Neomexicanismo, which promoted her and her work emerged. Since that time, she has become a cult icon, with images of her appearing on pop culture items and many of her works now command high prices.
Following Kahlo and Rivera’s intervention, prominent Soviet communist Leon Trotsky obtained asylum in Mexico. He and his wife stayed at the Blue House (Casa Azul) since January 1937. From 1937 and 1939, Trotsky used to live and work there.
The windows facing the street were closed in with adobe bricks for Trotsky’s safety, as he was under a death sentence from Stalin. A high wall was built between this house and the adjoining one as well.