Largest Private Collection Of Frida Kahlo Art Coming To College Of DuPage
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The works of legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo are coming to the Chicago area for a unique exhibition that will include paintings from one of the world's largest private collection.
The Cleve Carney Art Gallery in partnership with the McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage will present the works in June of 2020.
The 26-piece collection will be on loan from the Museo Dolores Olmedo. It will showcase various sketches and paintings spanning Kahlo's career.
Her notable self-portraits highlight a spectrum of themes including sexuality, politics and death.
When Kahlo was a teenager, she was in a streetcar accident that left her with a broken spinal column and her pelvis impaled by a steel handrail. Kahlo was bedridden for months afterwards and painted on plaster corsets she wore during her recuperation.
Kahlo had a specially constructed easel to allow her to paint while lying down. The accident, which left the artist with chronic health problems, would have a profound effect on her life and it was a theme in several works of art.
"This unique collection of works is deeply tied to Kahlo's personal narrative. It covers an arc of her life and career," said Justin Witte, Cleve Carney Art
Gallery Director and exhibition curator. "It's a full arc tied into her person and covers her accident, which is when she started to create self-portraits."
Known for years primarily as the the wife of famed muralist Diego Rivera, Kahlo's works were rediscovered by art historians in the 1970s. She is considered to be one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. During her career, she created approximately 200 paintings, sketches and drawings. Of those paintings 55 are self-portraits.
According to COD, the last time Kahlo's collective works were seen in the area was back in 1978 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago in an exhibit with pieces from the Museo Dolores Olmedo. According to the Cleve Carney Art Gallery, "the new immersive Frida Kahlo exhibit, featuring a more diverse collection of works and will allow guests to experience more fully Kahlo and her continued worldwide influence."