Left: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
Right: Casa Azul
Address:
Calle Londres 247, Del Carmen, Coyoacán, 04100 Ciudad de Mexico, CDMX, Mexico
Website:
“What I liked: audio guide and labels were easy to handle/read
What I missed: no special material for visually impaired persons (VIP)
Please click the “IN SHORT” button to read a summary”
About the Museum
Color, intensity, and a love of life is what I took home from my visit to this special place in the beautiful, small neighborhood of Coyoacán in Mexico City.
Frida Kahlo, the best-known Mexican female artist, always fascinated me. Her youth was filled with long lonely hours of lying in bed after suffering from polio. Later in her adolescent years she had a severe accident which left her crippled and in much pain for the rest of her life.
Her extraordinary life as painter, wife of Diego Rivera - one of the most famous Mexican muralists- as a socialist and devotee to the traditions of her country, became the subject of many articles, books, and eventually the 2002 movie "Frida“ with Salma Hayek in the role of the venerated artist.
Portrait of Frida Kahlo´s father by Frida Kahlo
The House
The Casa Azul is a two story Colonial style building with a central courtyard. It continues to enthrall visitors with its lush gardens as it did Frida and Diego in their time. The house is enclosed on all 4 sides and the walls show an intense bright blue color; hence the name “Casa Azul”. The rooms are connected and offer delightful views of the gardens. There are several stairs from the gardens into the house, and there are stairs between some rooms inside the house. This made it difficult for Frida to move around without help. In her final years she had to be carried up and down, in and out.
above: look into the kitchen, on the right side there is a cupboard with themes from Frida and Diego still on it
below: dining room with a big table, shelves, a yellow floor and a view to the garden
Frida Kahlo was born in 1907, in the Casa Azul and also died there in 1954. Frida and Diego spent many years together in this house. It was there that they hosted the exiled Marxist revolutionary and Soviet politician, Leon Trotsky and his wife, Natalia Sedova, 1937-9.
As you walk through the exhibition you get a good sense of what life was like in these rooms with friends and guests always present, with delicious meals at the big table in the dining room with its beautiful vistas of the gardens. The gardens have their own delights of secluded and quiet corners full of colors, fragrances and refreshing breezes. You will, of course, also encounter pain and suffering as you follow Frida’s life story through her paintings and photographs. In her studio you can see some of her wheelchairs, canes and easels designed to fit her needs. In a separate building on the grounds you can find her beautiful dresses next to her orthopedic corsets on display. This room gives you a sense of the pain she must have endured.
Frida´s studio: wheelchair and easel
Audio Guide and Labels
At the entrance you can rent an audio guide which will prove to be very helpful to navigate the house and its exhibitions. The audio guide is easy to handle, for each room you will find several paintings with an accompanying audio description. You can find the sign for the audio guide easily on the labels – they are nicely sized and good to read (at least for me the header was easy to read) – what a pleasant surprise for once. It is a rare treat to find labels and signs that are easy to read for us!
above: painting "Viva la Vida" and label with audio guide sign
below: audio guide
Last, but not Least
I loved the visit to the Casa Azul. Walking through the actual living quarters of such an extraordinary and colorful couple as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera was a very special experience for me and I was delighted to spend time with the paintings and photographs on display in their treasured home.
Gallery
