Exhibitions

EXPANDED! including new and never exhibited images!

In May 1931 photographer Nickolas Muray (1892-1965) traveled to Mexico on vacation by the invitation of his friend, artist Miguel Covarrubias,  where he met Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), a woman he would never forget. The two started a romance that continued on and off for the next ten years and a friendship that lasted until the end of their lives.

Approximately fifty photographic portraits taken of Frida Kahlo and several facsimile images of correspondence between Muray and Kahlo comprise the exhibition Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray. The photographs, dating from 1937 to 1946, explore Muray’s unique perspective; in the 1930s and 1940s he was Frida Kahlo’s friend, lover and confidant. Muray’s photographs bring to light Kahlo’s deep interest in her Mexican heritage, her life and the people significant to her with whom she shared a close friendship.

The Hungarian born Muray was an acclaimed artist in his own right, having pioneered color portrait photography. During his long career, Nickolas Muray photographed many important people from the political, artistic and social arenas. His work was regularly featured in Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, McCall’s and the Ladies Home Journal. The body of his work is extensive, comprising over 10,000 images. Muray photographed Kahlo more than any of his other subjects and his portraits of her are among the most iconic images of the artist that are not self-portraits. These photographs of Kahlo have made their way into a variety of media, popular culture, and are integral to the world’s understanding of who Frida Kahlo was as an individual behind her artwork.

Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray is supplemented with a wonderfully informative and illustrated publication, I Will Never Forget You: Frida Kahlo and Nickolas Muray by Salomon Grimberg (Chronicle Books) and a PBS video, The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo. A full exhibition packet including press release materials, labels and wall text in both English and Spanish will be electronically supplied for venue production. The exhibition fee is for an eight week display; additional time will be pro-rated and is encouraged.

Take a Virtual Tour of the exhibition!

Read an interesting article about the exhibition in Canada and the relationship of  Frida Kahlo and Nickolas Muray here.

CBS News highlights the exhibition as one of fourteen Latino Art Shows ‘not to miss’: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/14-latino-art-shows-not-miss-2017-n751366

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