This fall, the Palais Galliera celebrates Frida Kahlo, one of the most recognized and influential artists of the 20th century.

More than 200 objects from Casa Azul

Far from the clichés that surround her personality, the exhibition Frida Kahlo, beyond appearances invites visitors to enter the intimacy of the artist, and to understand how she built an identity through the way of introduce themselves and represent themselves. For the first time in France and in close collaboration with the Museo Frida Kahlo, the exhibition brings together more than 200 objects from Casa Azul, the house where Frida was born and raised: clothes, correspondence, accessories, cosmetics, medicines, medical prostheses… These personal effects were sealed when the artist died in 1954 by her husband, the Mexican mural painter Diego Rivera, and were rediscovered fifty years later, in 2004.

A serious accident at the age of 18

This precious collection – including traditional Tehuana dresses, pre-Columbian necklaces that Frida collected, examples of corsets and hand-painted prostheses… – is presented, along with films and photographs of the artist, to constitute a visual account of her life outside standards. Frida Kahlo’s appearance is a means of expressing her identity and political concerns: it was, in fact, following a serious accident, which occurred at the age of 18, that Frida devoted herself to painting. and adopts traditional clothing which allows her to affirm her Mexicanness, but also to deal with her handicap. Thus, the exhibition Frida Kahlo, beyond appearances retraces the way in which the artist has shaped, like a manifesto, her image nourished by her cultural heritage and by her experience of gender and disability.

The museum highlights the artist’s stay in Paris

In a journey that is both biographical and thematic, the Palais Galliera highlights the artist’s stay in Paris and his relations with the Surrealist group. The visit continues with a capsule exhibition, presented from September 15 to December 31, 2022, which addresses the artist’s influence on contemporary fashion and the way in which it remains, even today, an icon and a source of inspiration. inspiration for designers, including Alexander McQueen, Jean Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld for CHANEL, Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy, Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior or Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons.

Palais Galliera, Fashion Museum of the City of Paris

10, Avenue Pierre I of Serbia, Paris