In 1904, the Hungarian-German immigrant Guillermo Kahlo built a house in the Coyoacán neighborhood of Mexico City. There, he would raise his children and establish himself as a sought-after photographer, documenting the region’s Colonial architecture. One of his daughters, Frida, would even help her father in the dark room, developing negatives, retouching photos, and arguably beginning her artistic education.
As an adult, Frida Kahlo would occupy the same house with her husband, Diego Rivera, transforming it into a gathering place for great personalities of the era: Leon Trotsky, Henry Moore, André Breton. The house has had a vibrant afterlife as well. In 1958, four years after Kahlo’s death, it was converted into the now-beloved Museo Frida Kahlo (known to many as Casa Azul), which vies with the National Museum of Anthropology for the rank of most-visited museum in Mexico City.
Last night, a new chapter in Kahlo’s story was announced at the Park Avenue residence of Christine and Stephen Schwarzman: The public opening of a Museo Casa Kahlo, adjacent to the storied Casa Azul, will take place on September 27. Already dubbed “Casa Roja,” the building where the new museum will be housed was originally owned by Frida Kahlo’s parents; she later purchased it from them as a home for her sister Christina and Christina’s family.
“Cristina was by her side through so much,” says Frida Hentschel Romeo, Kahlo’s great-grand-niece, “traveling with her to New York for her first major exhibition, supporting her through surgeries and recovery.”
Kahlo’s closest living descendants—Mara Romeo Kahlo (Christina’s granddaughter and Kahlo’s grand-niece), her daughter Mara Deanda Kahlo (Kahlo’s great-grand-niece), and Hentschel Romeo—came to New York to publicize the new institution. “For the first time, the voice of the family will be at the heart of how Frida’s story is told,” says Hentschel Romeo. “This museum isn’t just about her work—it’s about her world. It’s about how the people closest to her shaped who she became. And it’s also about the living family—those of us who carry her legacy forward.”
The museum will exhibit personal items that have never been shown before, including letters, childhood photographs, a piece of embroidery Kahlo made at the age of five, dolls, jewelry, clothing, and the very first oil painting she ever created. This was the painting, says Hentschel Romeo, that Kahlo showed to Diego Rivera to determine if she had the skill to become a painter. “It is incredibly moving to see up close,” she adds. The museum will also showcase a newly discovered mural—believed to be the only Frida Kahlo mural in existence.
The setting for the announcement had particular resonance, as the Schwarzmans’ home once belonged to John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his family, who hosted Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera many times. The Rockefellers were early and great patrons of both Mexican artists—look no further than Rivera’s mural for Rockefeller Center for one example of their collaboration—but also great friends: Kahlo and Rockefeller’s wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, were particularly close.
The aim of the new museum, according to its organizers, is to further the understanding of Kahlo’s early evolution as artist, with an emphasis on the relationships that were formative for her. It will also host rotating shows of contemporary work, with an emphasis on local artists.
“This is a dream long held by our family,” said Mara Romeo Kahlo. “Frida’s legacy belongs to the world, but it begins here—on this land, in these homes, and in the culture that shaped her. Museo Casa Kahlo will allow us to tell new stories, share family secrets, host new voices, and build a future that honors her spirit.”
