Artist Birthdays- Frida Kahlo

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, British Art Shows, London Art Shows, New York Art Shows, Painting / Painters
Jul 062026
 

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was born today, July 6th, in 1907. She painted many self-portraits, including the one pictured above, Me and My Parrots (Yo y mis pericos), from 1941. The painting was on view as part of the 2020 exhibition Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945 at the Whitney Museum in New York.

Her work can currently be seen in the exhibitions Frida: The Making of an Icon at the Tate Modern in London and Frida and Diego: The Last Dream at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

 

Diego Rivera’s “Mandragora” at the San Diego Museum of Art

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Halloween, Painting / Painters, San Diego Art Shows
Oct 302020
 

Diego Rivera’s Mandragora, 1939 seen at the San Diego Museum of Art.

From the museum’s wall description-

Diego Rivera created many portraits during his long career. Some portrayed unnamed individuals who agreed to pose for the artist, while others depicted close friends and well-known figures in the arts. The sitter of this work has been identified as Maya Guarina. The delicate lace headpiece and dress worn by Guarina contrast with the skull she she holds in her hands and the spiderweb in the upper left-hand corner. In the upper right-hand corner emerges a small mandrake, a plant identified as a hallucinogen and associated with magic. While these objects might reveal something about Guarina, they also contribute to an enigmatic portrait with Surrealist qualities,