Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism

 The Portland Art Museum is presenting Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. A fascinating exploration of Mexican modernism and two of its most beloved icons, Frida and Diego.

Featuring more than 150 works, this traveling exhibition celebrates internationally acclaimed artists Frida Kahlo (1907–1954), Diego Rivera (1886–1957), and their contemporaries, including Manuel and Lola Álvarez Bravo, María Izquierdo, Carlos Mérida, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo, and others. In addition to paintings and works on paper, the exhibition includes photographs and period clothing that reflect works by Kahlo and Rivera in the broader context of Mexican Modernism.

Organized by themes such as “Land, Home, and Family,” “Shifting Views,” and “Creating Frida,'' the exhibition explores the ways in which art was an important tool for visualizing a shared national identity after the Mexican Revolution. That identity became known as mexicanidad—a blending of agrarian and Indigenous traditions with anti-colonialist sentiment. Rivera, Kahlo, and the other Mexican modernists experimented with style and imagery drawn from Indigenous and mestizo cultures while also taking part in the international movement of modernism.

Diego Rivera, along with Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco, promoted an outward vision of mexicanidad through murals, paintings, and prints, and were commissioned to create murals throughout Mexico City, where they addressed both heroic and tragic histories in monumental works intended to instill optimism and pride. The exhibition presents 17 works by Rivera, including major paintings like Calla Lily Vendor as well as prints that depict some of his mural imagery.