Frida and Diego

Frida was too good for him, but love, loyalty and probably locura (craziness) continued tie her to him. Frida mirrored her troubled life – marked by a childhood of polio, a traffic accident that that broke her back and caused severe pain throughout her life, and a tumultuous marriage (twice) to Mexico’s famous muralist – in her unique and unforgettable paintings. And Diego, well, he loved her – in his own way. She suffered through his notorious womanizing, though not without her own affairs, most notably with the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky.

The Casa Azul, in the Coyoacán neighborhood, where Frida was born, lived much of her life and eventually died, now is a wonderful museum to fill my fascination with the life and work of Frida Kahlo. During previous visits to Mexico City, I have satisfied this allure of all things Frida and Diego by visiting museums and murals of two of Mexico’s most distinguished artists.

By exploring San Ángel, the neighboring barrio of Coyoacán, I was able to visit a new area of the city and satiate my Frida obsession today. San Ángel is one of the wealthier areas of the city with colorful colonial architecture and stone streets lined with flowers. Plaza Jacinto, the center of San Ángel, hosts a large art market and many artisan vendors that attract many tourists, especially on Saturdays.

A short walk through the windy streets led me to Museo Estudio Diego Rivera that was built by Juan O’Gorman for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in 1931-1932. The two houses, one blue and one red, are connected by a roof top bridge and surrounded by a cactus hedge. Diego’s house has a large living room / studio with a wall of windows that allows the sunlight to pour into the minimalist architecture. It is one of the few rooms in the entire museum that contains an assortment of his personal belongings like paintbrushes, papier-mâché skeletons and pre-Columbian pottery.

Diego´s house

Frida´s house

Frida´s house

Diego´s house

While the houses displays none of Frida’s work and only a few sketches and paintings of Diego, there are several rooms of photographs of the two that allow me to imagine what it must have been like for Frida to live in the artsy neighborhoods of Coyoacán and San Ángel during the 1930s and 1940s. And if you have seen the movie, Frida, you will recognize the museum since part of it was filmed there. With the 1.5 km walk to Coyoacán, I finished my day of Frida.