The Blue House offers a look at the ecosystem of creative women that Frida Kahlo admired

The painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) cultivated a wide and strong network of friendships and affections during her life. His interest in others and his performance extended to all areas and social levels. The temporary exhibition Women’s Museumat the Frida Kahlo Museum (MFK), gives an account of her relationship with several artists and craftswomen, whose works are part of the Casa Azul collection.

They are Carmen Caballero, cardboard artisan; Modesta Fernández, clay artisan; Concha Michel, singer, songwriter and political activist; Matilde Poulat, jewelry designer, and Merced Zamora, academic painter. The selection of these women has to do with pieces that are found in the facility and are part of the tour that aims to make the creators of these works visible, says Perla Labarthe, director of the MFK. That is, “talk a little more about them”, give them prominence and, thus, “sharpen the visitor’s gaze”.

In room 3, for example, there is a figure of a mermaid made by Modesta Fernández, born in 1914, who had her workshop in Metepec, state of Mexico. “She sold her pieces in the local market, which was where Diego Rivera met her. This is probably how this piece came to the house, in addition to the fact that Frida felt close to this type of representations because she is a woman whose legs are a fish tail,” says Labarthe. The figure is accompanied by photographs of Doña Modesta in her workshop.

Two oil paintings by the Colima artist Merced Zamora (1865-1922) hang on the walls of the house’s dining room. Although Kahlo did not know her, they are included in the exhibition to the extent that they were both painters and painting teachers: “it seemed important to us to make visible their work, which was appreciated by both Frida and Diego. Zamora was a student of José María Velasco at the Academy of San Carlos, with whom Diego was close. That was probably how these paintings arrived at the house.”

In the study, in the bookshelf area, some publications by Concha Michel (1899-1991) have been included, who wrote several studies on the culture of indigenous communities. One of the books is displayed open so that the visitor can read the dedication, full of admiration, that Michel wrote for his friend. “It is an opportunity to talk about these networks of women and the way they appreciated each other’s art,” Labarthe says.

Also inhabitants of the Blue House are the “Judas”, figures made with paper and cardboard, some of which were made by Carmen Caballero, a native of Celaya, Guanajuato, who began in the world of popular cardboard making at the age of 18. Rivera came across Doña Carmen’s paper mache “judas” one Holy Week, on a visit to the Abelardo Rodríguez market. Immediately, he invited her to work in his home-studio in San Ángel. Caballero remembered Kahlo as “a close and generous presence” who supported her work.

By the designer Matilde Poulat, who died in 1960, a necklace of her creation that Kahlo wore is on display, as seen in a photograph included in the exhibition. Before dedicating himself to silversmithing, Poulat studied painting at the Academy of San Carlos. In 1934, he founded the MATL workshop. In the 1940s his work gained international recognition, as he revisited classic styles and used an impressive variety of strongly colored stones, usually amethyst, turquoise and coral.

Women’s Museum It is conceived as a “transverse” tour through the different rooms of the premises, in which the collection can be observed in a different way by emphasizing these five women. Some are more famous than others, however “we find it necessary for our audiences to know these creators who are part of this artistic and creative ecosystem that is the Blue House which, after all, was a meeting place, due to all the people who came to visit the couple, says Labarthe. For the owner of the MFK, “each object tells us many stories. Now what we want is for them to reveal to us the details of their own creators.”

The exhibition Women’s Museum It will remain open to the public until March 29, at the Frida Kahlo-Casa Azul Museum, at 247 London Street, Coyoacán Mayor’s Office, in Mexico City.