Paintings by Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) and Diego Rivera (1886–1957), two of the most celebrated artists of the early 20th century, will be on view in a group exhibition of 75 works at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale from February 26 through May 31, 2015: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection & 20th Century Mexican Art from the Stanley and Pearl Goodman Collection.
Showcasing the rich artistic traditions of Mexico and the passionate and patriotic pride of its artists, the exhibition features masterworks by Kahlo and Rivera along with paintings, sculptures and works on paper by other influential Mexican artists involved in the country’s political and social struggles, including Leonora Carrington, Gunther Gerzso, José Clemente Orózco, Wolfgang Paalen, Alfredo Ramos Martinez, David Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo and Remedios Varo. Together, their work helped to define Mexican modernism, demonstrating the broad range of artistic expression and varying political forces that shaped the country’s cultural heritage.
Accompanying these works are photographs of Frida and Diego by American and Mexican photographers such as Leo Matiz, Martin Munkácsi and Nickolas Muray, who documented the vastly different personalities of Kahlo and Rivera in portraits included in the exhibition. The artists’ mutual passions and shared political and artistic convictions bound them closely.
The exhibition brings together works from both the world-renowned Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection and major works by Mexican modern artists collected by Stanley and Pearl Goodman of Fort Lauderdale, who pledged their collection of more than 75 works by modern Latin American artists to the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale.
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection is known for its significant holdings of work by Kahlo. Outstanding paintings from the collection include many of Kahlo’s best-known self-portraits including Diego on my Mind (Self-Portrait as A Tehuana); Love Embrace of the Universe, Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego and Señor Xolotl and Self-Portrait with Monkeys.
The Gelman Collection also includes major works from Rivera including his provocative Portrait of Natasha Gelman, Calla Lily Vendor,Landscape with Cacti.
The Goodmans’ collection includes Surrealistic paintings by Kahlo and other artists, including Leonora Carrington, Gunther Gerzso, and Wolfgang Paalen. Works from David Siqueiros are also shown. The first painting purchased by the Goodmans was his gouache on paper, Fligh. Also in the collection are works by Alfredo Martínez Ramos, Remedios Varo and Ramos.
Presented by AutoNation, the exhibition is organized by NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale in association with the Vergel Foundation.