In Buenos Aires, a self-portrait of Frida Kahlo exhibited for the first time in 25 years
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A self-portrait of the tear-eyed Mexican artist is on display for the first time in 25 years at a Latin American art museum in Buenos Aires.
It had been 25 years since the self-portrait Diego y yo (Diego and Me), directed in 1949 by Frida Kahlo, had not been exposed. The painting was acquired in November by the Eduardo F. Costantini collection, named after the founder of the Museum of Latin American Arts (Malba) in Buenos Aires. Sold for $34.9 million by Sotheby’s New York auction house, the work shattered the former record of the Mexican artist. And also becomes the most expensive Latin American painting in history.
Highlight of the exhibition Tercer Ojo (Third Eye), dedicated to the private collection of Eduardo Costantini, the painting will be exhibited from Friday alongside works by Cuban Wifredo Lam, Mexicans Miguel Covarrubias and Rosa Rolanda, Brazilian Vicente do Rego Monteiro. A total of 240 works are hung on the picture rails of the Argentinian museum. Many of them have not been shown for thirty years.
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Diego y yo, an oil on hardboard, reveals the intense gaze characteristic of Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits. On her forehead appears the face of her husband, the painter Diego Rivera. From the eyes of the painter flow tears. Her husband had become close to a famous Mexican actress. A tragedy for his wife whose ill-being is depicted in his work.
During the opening of the exhibition, Eduardo Costantini expressed his admiration for Frida Kahlo. “She is a unique artist, who recounts her dramatic life without shame, in a spontaneous and open way”, he said of the feminist icon who died in 1954 at age 47. Also arguing that “That’s precisely what people love about her.”
The painting was acquired in 1990 in a Sotheby’s sale for $1.4 million. Diego y yo then found itself in the hands of a Texan collector who parted with it last November. The work broke the record for the most expensive Latin American painting: Los Rivales, a 1931 painting auctioned by Christie’s in 2018 for $9.76 million. Ironically, it was by Diego Rivera.
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