- Title: Frida Kahlo funeral photos go under the hammer in Mexico
- Date: 24th July 2020
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JULY 23, 2020) (REUTERS) OFFICIAL FROM MORTON SUBASTAS (MORTON'S AUCTION HOUSE) LOOKING AT PHOTOS OF FRIDA KAHLO'S FUNERAL THAT ARE UP FOR AUCTION
- Embargoed: 7th August 2020 20:38
- Keywords: Frida Kahlo Mexico Mexico City auction funeral photos
- Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Art,Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001CO648XZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A series of photos taken during the funeral of Mexico's iconic painter Frida Kahlo are to go to auction in Mexico City, shedding new light on Kahlo's controversial final moment.
Over half a century on from her death in 1954, Kahlo remains one of the world's most popular painters. At auction houses, a rare Kahlo painting fetches bids in the millions of dollars. And Morton Subastas (Morton's Auction House) in Mexico City hopes to attract similar interest in these photos.
Frida's funeral was held in Mexico City's Palace of Fine Arts and attracted huge media attention. Then president Lazaro Cardenas was in attendance, as was her muralist husband Diego Rivera, painter and architect Juan O'Gorman as well as acclaimed artist David Alfara Siqueiros. Controversially, Kahlo's casket was draped in the hammer and sickle in a reference to the painter's communist leanings.
The seven photos are to go under the hammer in Mexico for final auction on Saturday (July 25), and estimates have the photos attracting bids of nearly $1,000 (U.S) each.
Kahlo began painting as a teenager while convalescing from a horrific tram crash in 1925. The accident and a legacy of childhood polio left her in constant physical pain and unable to have children. Taking to painting as a means of self-expression, Kahlo's suffering is depicted in her very raw works.
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