Frida Kahlo at the New York Botanical Gardens

On June 23rd, my Mom and I made our way to the Botanical Gardens in New York for the Frida Kahlo exhibit. We spent a few hours (we could have spent all day but I had a class to teach at the Ink Pad that night and you know, New York traffic!) If you are lucky enough to go, search online for discount codes as they are available. Also, wear good walking shoes, use sunscreen and bring a bottle of water to refill. You can easily spend all day there.

As you look at the photos, remember that what you are seeing is a recreation of Frida's home and studio in Mexico. The view of her desk isn't her real desk. The pigments were bottles of glitter. I loved imagining that everything was real and that we were in Mexico. There is inspiration everywhere and I hope that these photos were able to capture some of the magic I found that day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My only disappointment that day (other than losing my Spock button in the gallery somewhere!) was that The Two Fridas was not actually on display. There was a very cool paper recreation by Humberto Spíndola as shown above. My conversation with one of the young staff members went like this, 

Me: "Where is painting, the Two Fridas?"

Staff: "Right there." (pointing.)

Me: "I'm looking for the actual painting."

Staff: "It's right there!" (pointing again.)

Me: "That's not a painting!"

No photos were allowed inside the gallery. If you were to step inside, you would see the following paintings by Frida (along with several of her sketches):

   

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940)

 

Flower of Life (1944)

 

Still Life with Parrot and Flag (1951)

 

Self Portrait Inside a Sunflower (1954)

If you haven't seen it yet, check out the new book about the exhibit, Frida Kahlo's Garden.

Some of My Previous Posts about Frida:

Books 

Frida Kahlo: The Gisele Freund Photographs

Frida at SFMoma 2008 

Bringing Home the Goods from the NYBG: Frida