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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism

Feb 19 – June 5, 2022
1219 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97205, United States

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera met in 1922. He was a famous muralist. She was 15 and impressionable. Kahlo began to watch Rivera as he painted. He would tell her stories of Paris, the war, and the world of Picasso, Modigliani, and Breton. Though the pair went on to marry, Kahlo did not remain in Rivera’s shadow. He encouraged her to paint—“You have a gift,” he said—and he was right. Zooming in on these two leading figures of Mexican modernism, this show places their work alongside fellow Mexican modernists. —E.C.

Nickolas Muray, “Frida Kahlo on Bench #5,” 1939. Courtesy of the Norton Museum of Art.