Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 19071954) 1928 Credit below.
In January of this year, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA)
acquired Frida Kahlos Dos Mujeres (Salvadora e Herminia). This is
one of the earliest works by the iconic Mexican painter who has
enchanted generations. It is currently on display as part of the
MFAs ongoing exhibit called Making Modern.
Our dream was to acquire something by Frida Kahlo,
who is an artist who really was a pathfinder This came on the
market and everybody knew that it was going to be important for us
and help us invite new audiences into the MFA. – MFA Director
Matthew Teitelbaum in interview with NPR
There is much that is remarkable about this painting.
Dos Mujeres was the first painting Kahlo ever sold. It is the first
to be acquired by a museum in New England. It is one of only 12
Kahlo paintings in public collections around the world. But,
perhaps the most remarkable thing is her age and the state of her
health at the time of the painting.
DOS MUJERES: HOPE
Frida Kahlo was only 21 years old when she painted
Dos Mujeres. She was still recovering from a devastating bus crash
that, three years prior, had crushed her foot and shattered her
pelvis, legs and ribs. The accident rendered her bed-ridden for
three months. She endured what would become decades of reparative
surgeries.
A little while ago, not much more than a few days
ago, I was a child who went about in a world of colors Now I live
in a painful planet, transparent as ice – Frida in a letter to
Alejandro Gmez Arias, (29 September 1926)
Kahlo
received some art books from a friend and began painting as a means
of occupying her mind as she healed her body. The two women, her
dos mujeres, worked as maids in Kahlos family home, just outside of
Mexico City. They likely assisted her in her convalescence, as her
love and admiration for them is palpable in the portrait. It is a
beautiful and respectful depiction of two working-class women an
innovative and prevalent theme in Mexican art in the time after the
Mexican Revolution.
Though Kahlo had written in her correspondence that
her world was now a painful planet, transparent as ice, this
painting is virtually drenched in color. Viewers will notice the
incredible warmth that appears to be emanating from the women in
the foreground and the lushness of the foliage in the background.
It is as though the canvas is somehow lit from within as if Kahlo
painted on glass that was now illuminated from behind. The vibrant
verdant hues of the leaves and their overlapping shapes create a
wonderfully rhythmic pattern. She included little elements of
whimsy, with insects positioned on the leaves. It almost feels as
though the work is a moment in an animation and the figures will
soon exit the scene.
Biographer Hayden Herrera said of Kahlo, The accident
turned her into a painter. I mean, not just because it was a
practical thing to do, but because she needed something to hold
onto, and I think painting her self-image over and over again was a
way of creating something that she could hold onto that steadied
her. With the color and vitality of the painting, one cannot help
but believe that Kahlo was building new hope for her future.
Kahlo’s Home
The works importance to the MFA is clear through its
position within the gallery space. It is displayed unusually,
emerging vertically from a podium in the center of the room mounted
like a diamond on an engagement ring. This allows viewers to spy
the inscription on the back, which includes the artists signature
and that of her future husband and world-renowned muralist, Diego
Rivera. The collector who bought it, Jackson Cole Phillips, also
signed it.
Phillips purchased the work from Kahlo in 1929 and it
remained in his family until the MFA acquired it. The museums
conservator has speculated about how the work may have been
transported. I have a suspicion that maybe he just rolled it up and
took it home in his suitcase, Rhona MacBeth said in an NPR
interview, partly because of these little cracks here which are
rather unusual and horizontal. MacBeth is the Conservator of
Paintings at the MFA. After having worked on Dos Mujeres, one can
surmise that she is acquainted with the work nearly as intimately
as the painter herself.
Kahlo produced fewer than 150 paintings in her brief
lifetime, a tiny sum when compared to her contemporaries. Consider
that Georgia OKeefes legacy includes thousands of works and
approximately 500 pieces in over 100 public collections worldwide.
The Mexican government declared the works of Frida Kahlo as
National Monuments in 1984. This example of Cultural Patrimony
prohibits the work from being exported from Mexico, thereby
limiting the potential for museums or private collectors outside of
the country to obtain her work. After seeing Dos Mujeres, one
understands Mexicos desire to protect these masterpieces.
MAKING MODERN: INNOVATION
Dos Mujeres is part of the ongoing Making Modern
exhibit. Kahlos painting is in the company of dozens of other
visual innovators. A photographic portrait of Kahlo by Imogen
Cunningham hangs near Kahlos canvas. A work by Diego Rivera is also
nearby. They are joined by OKeeffe, Pollock, Motherwell, Weston,
Rivera, Sheeler, Dove, Beckman, and others.
While their art is consistently revolutionary, the
themes are often contrasting. Georgia OKeeffes canvases are of her
trademark flowers, cow skulls, and adobes relics of the southwest.
Meanwhile, Sheelers canvas is a graphic representation of a steel
factory in Pittsburgh. Finally, Motherwells huge canvas dives into
pure abstraction, with rough black and white lines on a field of
ochre. While the themes contrast, the paintings are at home with
one another, allowing our eyes and mind to wander the varied and
textured experiences of the artists.
The modern artist is working with space and time, and
expressing his feelings rather than illustrating. – Jackson
Pollock
A clever video installation allows visitors to do a
side-by-side comparison of the processes and works of Picasso and
Pollock. This marks a mid-century stylistic and geographic shift in
the art world: toward complete abstraction and toward New York. No
longer was Europe the center of the universe. The revolution was
happening on the new continent. This is not surprising, given the
exodus of the creative class prior to and during World War II. Art
freezes a moment in time; it has context that cannt be ignored.
These artists beautifully captured those moments and MFA has put
them on display for all t see.
BOSTONS MUSEUMS: REBIRTH
This exhibit is housed within the The Art of the
Americas Wing, which was rebuilt in 2010. The designers at Foster +
Partners in London drew inspiration from the MFAs original plan by
architect Guy Lowell, who envisioned a strong north-south axis for
the building. This vision marries the building to its surroundings
by reorienting the main entrance toward the Emerald Necklace. The
greenery is also invited into the building with the glass-enclosed
Shapiro Family Courtyard, where you may see artists sketching on
oversized pads.
Norman Foster commented that, Over time the Museum
had lost its connection to the Back Bay Fens and the beautiful
landscape of Frederick Law Olmsteds Emerald Necklace. In restoring
Lowells original plan and in opening up and reasserting the grand
Fenway entrance, we have rediscovered this link. At the same time,
we have drawn the landscape deep into the heart of the building and
along Huntington Avenue. The result is a more legible museum that
will create new connections between the park, the Museum and the
local community.
The four-story atrium is home to a huge glass
sculpture by Dale Chihuly, and an exhibit by Ai Weiwei. The New
American Cafe is in the center of this bustling, bright and airy
space. It was selected as one of the best museum restaurants in the
US by Food & Wine in January 2014.
Other nearby museums underwent similar renovations
that incorporated ultramodern design into existing traditional
buildings. The neighboring, Venetian-styled Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum opened its ground-breaking addition in 2012. The
design by Renzo Piano features a glass atrium and a corridor of
greenhouses to accommodate and nurture the famous courtyards leafy
residents throughout the year. It also includes a living room in
which guests can relax and enjoy one of the many books on art that
are on display.
As an architect, you have to provide a shelter to
enjoy art. And you have to love art. Its like when you make a
concert hall. You must love music. This is the reason why you make
the space, to enjoy music – making a space for art is the same
thing. – Renzo Piano
Piano was also selected for the Harvard Art Museums
renovation, which was completed in late 2014.
Again, ample glass and steel were used to compliment
and contrast the traditional elegance of the Fogg Museums
Georgian-revival design. From the upper floors, visitors can see
across the courtyard to artwork displayed on the other side. We can
also catch a glimpse of the Museums collection of pigments that are
used in conservation efforts.
In each of the renovations, the experience of viewing
art is reclaimed for the visitors of today; not only in their
spaces designs, but also in their uses. These museums are made more
vital and relevant when visitors not only course through the
galleries and exhibit halls, but also stop for lunch or a quick
read. Artists are innovators, regularly bucking tradition and
exploring new perspectives. In a way, the recent renovations to the
MFA, Gardner, and Harvard Art Museums pay homage to that passion.
The architects neither mimicked the existing buildings nor obscured
them. In fact, their use of glass and simple geometric forms
provides visual pass-throughs, while offering a new reflection on
each Museums past.
Just as the MFAs new architecture captures the spirit
of innovation, so does its acquisition, Dos Mujeres. Frida Kahlo
designed a new path to vitality through her paintings. She
beautifully captured that moment, and now the MFA is able to share
it with all of us.
—
Dos Mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia) Frida Kahlo
(Mexican, 19071954) 1928 Oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Charles H. Bayley Picture and Paintings Fund, William Francis
Warden Fund, Sophie M. Friedman Fund, Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow
Fund, Tompkins CollectionArthur Gordon Tompkins Fund, Gift of
Jessie H. WilkinsonJessie H. Wilkinson Fund, and Robert M.
Rosenberg Fund * Photograph Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Article written by: Colleen Barry