A new museum dedicated to the life and legacy of Frida Kahlo will open later this year on September 27th in Mexico City. Museo Casa Kahlo, as the new space will be known, will be located in Casa Roja, a residence next to the artist’s famed home, Casa Azul. The museum intends to offer a personal perspective on Kahlo’s early life.
Casa Roja was originally acquired by Kahlo’s parents and later passed through the family to her grandniece, Mara Romeo Kahlo, who has donated it to the museum. Unlike Casa Azul, which focuses on Kahlo’s relationship with Diego Rivera, the new space will explore her early years and the influence of her father, Guillermo Kahlo, a photographer. The museum is being designed in part by Rockwell Group and managed by a trust, Fideicomiso de los Museos Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo. The museum will be an important new addition to Mexico City’s art scene, which has been growing in stature in recent years.
Frida Kahlo’s grandniece, Mara Romeo Kahlo, and her great-grandnieces, Mara Deanda Kahlo and Frida Hentschel Romeo, traveled to New York to publicize the institution on May 21. The announcement was made at the Park Avenue residence of high-profile art collectors Christine and Stephen Schwarzman.
“For the first time, the voice of the family will be at the heart of how Frida’s story is told,” Hentschel Romeo told Vogue. “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.”
Adán García Fajardo, currently academic director at the Museum of Memory and Tolerance in Mexico City, has been appointed as director of Museo Casa Kahlo. The project is being supported by Fundación Kahlo, a nonprofit founded by the family and based in New York. The foundation plans to launch two programs: the Kahlo Art Prize, a biennial award for contemporary artists, and Las Ayudas, a grant initiative.
