Art and Culture

Of Paris, a chronic pain and a pivotal friendship: Frida Kahlo meets Mary Reynolds at the Art Institute of Chicago

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 16 Apr 2025, 07:15 am

An exhibition titled "Frida Kahlo’s Month in Paris: A Friendship with Mary Reynolds" from Mar 29 to Jul 13 at the Art Institute of Chicago is the highlight of the cultural calendar in the American city, showcasing their connection and artistic works. Do not miss it if y0u are in the windy city any time soon, says Sujoy Dhar

Frida Kahlo, considered one of Mexico's greatest artists, is celebrated worldwide  for her striking self-portraits and deeply personal works that explored themes of identity, pain, and resilience as she channeled her lifelong taumas into her works. Over the decades since she passed away in July 1954 at the age of 47, she has inspired artists and activists worldwide.

Frida Kalho and Mary Reynolds Photo courtesy Art Institute of Chicago exhibition

The ongoing exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago traces Kahlo’s artistic trajectory from her first solo exhibition to her short but highly consequential engagement with Mary Reynolds and the French Surrealists and then back across the Atlantic in 1940 with Kahlo’s participation in the International Exhibition of Surrealism in Mexico City.

A poster of the Frida Kahlo show at Art Institute of Chicago

Born in 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico, she endured lifelong health struggles after a severe bus accident at the age of 18 when she was impaled by a handrail that went straight through her pelvis. At the age of six, Kahlo was diagnosed with polio.

Visitors at the exhibition

Kalho's art often blended realism with fantasy, incorporating elements of Mexican folk culture and surrealism. Kahlo was also known for her stormy relationship with fellow artist Diego Rivera, whom she married twice. Rivera was 20 years her senior.

Tree of Hope, Remain Strong portrait by Kahlo in 1946

While Frida Kahlo's life is an inspiration for many, not many are aware of her significant connection with  Mary Reynolds, an avant-garde American bookbinder and collector of Surrealist artist books, in 1939 when Kahlo visited Paris at the invitation of writer André Breton.

The Wounded Deer, 1946 by Frida Kahlo

During her stay, Kahlo became ill and convalesced at Reynolds' home. Reynolds was also the partner of Marcel Duchamp, the French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art and seen as important an influence as Pablo Picassoand Henri Matisse on 20th- and 21st-century art.

The Frame by Frida Kalho

"Kahlo traveled to France in January 1939 at the invitation of André Breton, the architect of European Surrealism. Breton had visited Kahlo in Mexico the year previously and invited her to consider an exhibition in Paris. The French city, however, did not agree with Kahlo. She quickly found it eroding her sense of artistic freedom and her health—until she met Reynolds. When Kahlo was rushed to the hospital with a kidney infection, Reynolds invited her to convalesce at her home at 14 rue Hallé, a hub of the city’s visual and literary avant-gardes who regularly  communed and dined there," according to the exhibition literature.

Self-portrait of Frida Kahlo at the show

Mary Reynolds' life in art mirrored Kahlo's in many ways, creating a sense of mutual understanding and respect.

A visitor on wheelchair at the show of Kahlo whose life was one of pain and struggle

According to the exhibition literature, Reynolds provided Kahlo with a supportive environment, allowing her to showcase her work abroad.

Frida Kahlo's Month In Paris show

Walter Pach, an arts organizer, had introduced Kahlo to Marcel Duchamp, paving the way for her meeting with Mary Reynolds.

A poster of the exhibition Frida Kahlo Month In Paris

Reynolds' relationship with Duchamp played a significant role in shaping her artistic connections. Kahlo spent a month at Reynolds' home, during which she recovered from illness and continued her artistic pursuits.

When Kahlo was rushed to the hospital with a kidney infection, Reynolds invited her to convalesce at her home at 14 rue Hallé in Paris, a hub of the city’s visual and literary avant-gardes who regularly communed an

According to the Institute, the exhibition captures the serendipitous meeting between Frida Kahlo and Mary Reynolds. The curatorial team introduces these two formidable artists and shares how their brief encounter reorients our understanding of the ways artists inspire one another.

A painting of Frida Kahlo with her husband Diego Rivera by Kahlo

Unveiling Frida Kahlo’s work for the first time in the Art Institute galleries, this exhibition focuses on the celebrated Mexican artist’s first and only trip to Europe and her brief yet pivotal encounter with Mary Reynolds, who stood at the center of the rich Parisian artistic community.  Reynolds (born 1891) died on September 30, 1950, four years before Kahlo's demise.

A photograph of Frida Kahlo at the exhibition

Drawing upon the extensive Mary Reynolds Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago and extraordinary Kahlo loans from public and private collections in the US, Mexico, and Europe, the presentation sheds light on this little-known chapter of 20th-century art history, recounting the legacies of Kahlo and Reynolds—both artists themselves and partners of artists—as they navigated Surrealism, identity, and cross-cultural exchange on the eve of World War II.