Frida Kahlo stands as one of Mexico’s most important and recognizable artists. Her paintings drew heavily from personal experience, weaving together themes of physical pain, passion, nature, and the rich visual traditions of Mexican and indigenous culture. She built a career that crossed borders at a time when very few Latin American artists — and even fewer women — earned that kind of international recognition.
Her first solo exhibition opened in 1938 at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City and was met with immediate success. The show introduced her work to a wide audience outside Mexico and established her reputation on the world stage. Back home, she had already become a central figure in Mexican cultural life, closely tied to artists, intellectuals, and political activists.
Kahlo married fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera in 1928. Their relationship was intense and turbulent. The two divorced in 1939 but never fully separated — they stayed in each other’s lives and remained close friends after the split. Rivera’s presence continued to shape much of Kahlo’s personal world throughout her life.
The photographs below were taken in 1944 by American photographer Sylvia Salmi. At the time, Kahlo was in Mexico and deep into work on one of her most powerful paintings — “The Broken Column.” The painting depicted her body split open to reveal a crumbling ionic column in place of her spine, a direct reflection of the physical suffering she endured following a near-fatal bus accident in 1925 that left her with lifelong injuries.
Salmi’s portraits capture Kahlo with a quiet intensity. She appears composed and deliberate, dressed in her signature Tehuana clothing — the long skirts, embroidered blouses, and layered jewelry that she wore as both personal style and a statement of Mexican cultural pride. Every detail in the photographs feels intentional, much like her paintings.
The years that followed 1944 brought increasingly serious health challenges. In 1950, Kahlo underwent a bone graft surgery on her spine — one of many operations she endured throughout her life. During her final years, she channeled much of her remaining energy into political causes and rejoined the Communist Party, which she had been a member of earlier in her life.
In August 1953, her right leg was amputated at the knee due to gangrene. The loss devastated her. She had spent decades painting her body — its pain, its strength, its identity — and the amputation struck at the core of how she saw herself. Her diary entries from this period document her grief in raw, direct terms.
Frida Kahlo died on July 13, 1954, at the age of 47. The official cause of death was a pulmonary embolism. She was buried in Mexico City at the Casa Azul — the Blue House — where she had been born and spent much of her life. The house later became a museum dedicated to her life and work.
These nine photographs by Sylvia Salmi offer a rare and intimate look at Kahlo during a creatively significant year. Taken while she was producing some of her most emotionally charged work, they show the woman behind the canvas — still, watchful, and fully present.
