- Title: Rediscovered Frida Kahlo painting, unseen for 60 years, resurfaces
- Date: 14th November 2016
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 14, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WORKER PUTTING FRIDA KAHLO'S PAINTING OF "NINA CON COLLAR" ON AN EASEL WITH AXEL STEIN, DIRECTOR OF LATIN AMERICAN ART AT SOTHEBY'S, SUPERVISING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) AXEL STEIN, DIRECTOR OF LATIN AMERICAN ART AT SOTHEBY'S, SAYING: "So this painting, we're very happy to have rediscovered this painting. We knew about this painting because it was in the catalog raisonne of the artist. This is the book where every single work by the artist has been catalogued. And if you see here, this is her portrait in black and white next to it, it says whereabouts, measurements, on and on. So how do we know about this? It's because in the old days in the '30s Lola Alvarez Bravo, a Mexican photographer, was actually documenting all the work that Frida was starting to produce. And then the author of the catalog Mr. Salomon Grimberg, living in Dallas, found the photo in the archives of Frida Kahlo. So where is this painting? Well you know, we're going to make sure that it's in the book, we don't know where it is, but at least we know it's an early 1929 Frida. Well the interesting thing about this painting is definitely the composition. Most of Frida's self-portraits, she's well known for her self-portraits, are frontal, in front of the mirror so it will be like a prototypical image for Frida, full faced looking at the viewer. What's interesting about this is that this is not Frida herself, this is a young girl working or hanging out at their place called the Blue House, the Casa Azul. So what is interesting is that she gave this young person this famous monobrow that continues on her brow. And also she decorated her or she enhances her beauty with her (Frida's) necklace, which was reproduced in many other paintings after that. But basically this is the prototypical image, the beginning of Frida's Fridas, if you wish." STEIN LOOKING AT PHOTOS OF KAHLO'S PAINTINGS IN BOOKS (SOUNDBITE) (English) AXEL STEIN, DIRECTOR OF LATIN AMERICAN ART AT SOTHEBY'S, SAYING: "We get a call at Sotheby's from the owner of this painting, (he said) 'I have this painting in the United States. And you know, we've decided to sell it.' So where was this? How come it's in the United States? I mean Frida Kahlo is a national patrimony artist so you can't actually export works by her so that makes it all the more interesting that you can't actually trade this thing in the open market. This was the story, (he said) 'my mother loved so much the painting and she moved to California and she just took the painting.'" STEIN FLIPPING THROUGH BOOK OF KAHLO'S PAINTINGS (SOUNDBITE) (English) AXEL STEIN, DIRECTOR OF LATIN AMERICAN ART AT SOTHEBY'S, SAYING: "The fact of the matter is that the painting belonged to a Frida aide or somebody who was helping her in the studio to put up things together since she was a little bit inhabilitated because of her health problems and her back problems. So when Frida died, Diego Rivera was kind enough to give this woman as a nice gesture, he gave her the painting. (He said) 'and which one do you like? Well I always liked that girl. It was hanging in the kitchen.' So this is the girl who was hanging in Frida's home. It was given to this person." STEIN GESTURING TO BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO OF "NINA CON COLLAR" IN BOOK (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) AXEL STEIN, DIRECTOR OF LATIN AMERICAN ART AT SOTHEBY'S, SAYING: "We have to remember this is a painting from 1929. In 1929, the Mexican Revolution was at its peak. I mean there was already peace, but you know what was the purpose of the whole revolution was to give importance, to give a voice to the poor and to all those people that were not seen before and less so in a piece of art. This is just maybe the daughter of a maid or somebody who was hanging around the house. And if you see other paintings by Frida from the same time you would find all these characters that really, are not very important socially. And I was wanted to point out this one here, this is a portrait of Eva, and she's wearing the same exact necklace. She wants to give dignity to people around her that were not born in better conditions in order to signify a high appreciation she had for those people. And that was the purpose of the whole revolution." STEIN FLIPPING THROUGH BOOK OF KAHLO'S PAINTINGS VARIOUS OF KAHLO'S PAINTING OF "NINA CON COLLAR" EXTERIOR TILT DOWN OF SOTHEBY'S
- Embargoed: 29th November 2016 21:00
- Keywords: Frida Kahlo Kahlo Frida Nina Con Collar Sotheby's Axel Stein
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Art,Arts/Culture/Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA00158F40UB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A Frida Kahlo painting, which has never been publicly exhibited and whose whereabouts has been a mystery, has resurfaced and will be auctioned next week at Sotheby's in New York, the auction house said on Monday (November 14) in New York City.
"Nina con Collar," (Girl with Collar), a 1929 oil on canvas, will go on the auction block on Nov. 22 at Sotheby's Latin American sale, with an estimated value of between $1.5 million to $2 million (USD).
"What's interesting about this is that this is not Frida herself, this is a young girl working or hanging out at their place called the Blue House, the Casa Azul," Axel Stein, head of Latin American art at Sotheby's, said. "So what is interesting is that she gave this young person this famous monobrow that continues on her brow. And also she decorated her or she enhances her beauty with her (Frida's) necklace, which was reproduced in many other paintings after that. But basically this is the prototypical image, the beginning of Frida's Fridas."
Kahlo died at age 47 in 1954. The following year, her widower, the painter Diego Rivera, gave the painting to an aide who had helped her in the studio, Stein said.
"We get a call at Sotheby's from the owner of this painting, (he said) 'I have this painting in the United States. And you know, we've decided to sell it.' So where was this? How come it's in the United States?" Stein said.
"I mean Frida Kahlo is a national patrimony artist so you can't actually export works by her so that makes it all the more interesting that you can't actually trade this thing in the open market. This was the story, (he said) 'My mother loved so much the painting and she moved to California and she just took the painting.' The painting belonged to a Frida aide or somebody who was helping her in the studio to put up things together since she was a little bit inhabilitated because of her health problems and her back problems," said Stein. "So when Frida died, Diego Rivera was kind enough to give this woman as a nice gesture, he gave her the painting. (He said) 'And which one do you like? Well I always liked that girl. It was hanging in the kitchen.' So this is the girl who was hanging in Frida's home," Stein continued.
"Nina con Collar" is among the first 20 of Kahlo's 143 paintings. It prefigures hallmarks of the artist's self-portraits, including Kahlo's famed unibrow.
The subject, a girl of about 13 or 14, stares in a full frontal gaze. The background is a mix of indigo and sky-blue; the face of the girl is copper-brown. She wears a jade beaded necklace from Kahlo, which reappears later in other paintings by the artist.
By price, Kahlo is one of Latin America's most valued artist. Last May, Christie's sold a 1939 work of hers for $8 million, an auction record for her work. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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