Frida Kahlo in 15 rare shots

She was without doubt one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Frida Kahlo is a mysterious, elegant and passionate woman whose lifeline was freedom. In 1928, after having barely recovered from an accident where she injured her spine and her legs three years earlier, she met the love of her life, Diego Rivera. Forced to endure a long period of bedrest, she completed a superb collection of self-portraits, which she painted using the reflection from a mirror which hung over her bed. Diego Rivera was immediately seduced by Frida’s paintings. He said, ‘she breaks all the taboos of the woman's body and of female sexuality." Bound by their love of art, a profound attachment to their country and a shared passion for politics, the pair married in August 1929. Their relationship was marked by the immense success of the two artists, their many trips together, their encounters with the most famous artists of their time: Picasso, Breton, Kandinsky… but also the affairs which were had, notably that of Rivera with his sister-in-law, following which the couple divorced, before remarrying in 1940. They stayed together until Frida Kahlo’s death in July 1954.

‘Through her paintings, she breaks all the taboos of the woman's body and of female sexuality.’

Vogue explores the intimacy of the artist at the heart of her famous dwelling, which is known as The Blue House, (La Casa Azul). A hub of creation, of passion, of parties and of drama, this quintessentially Mexican villa was the landmark of all the free spirited folk of the 1930s. Frida famously welcomed into her home the likes of Leon Trotsky, André Breton, and of course, she lived there with Diego Rivera.

Translated by Anushka Shah