Frida on White Bench by Nickolas Muray, 1939 (MFA/©Nickolas Muray PhotoArchives, Licensed by Nickolas Muray Photo Archives)
Known for her deeply personal, surreal, and vibrant self-portraits, Frida Kahlo continues to fascinate the world with her trailblazing legacy, arresting gaze, and signature fashion. Yet, despite being one of the most documented artists of the 20th century, Kahlo remains an elusive figure, clouded by a mythology that was partly of her own making. “Frida: Behind the Myth” explores the defining moments of Kahlo’s life as depicted through self-portraits plus prints and photographs of her.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibition assembles more than 60 of the artist’s extraordinary paintings, drawings, and prints—many rarely seen outside of Mexico—in which she embedded vivid symbolic representations of her emotional state. Her self-portraits and still lifes are complemented by more than 30 prints and photographs of Kahlo by those closest to her, including her husband, Diego Rivera; Nickolas Muray; Lola Álvarez Bravo; Julien Levy; and her father, Guillermo Kahlo. Together these works offer an intimate look at the events that shaped her life, tracing the journey from her childhood in Mexico, through her turbulent marriage to Diego Rivera, to her flourishing career in Mexico and the U.S., and ultimately to her final years, marked by declining health. A guided tour of the exhibit is the centerpiece of a day that includes time to enjoy the museum’s extensive holdings.
After lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, visit the Latin Ballet of Virginia, where you meet company dancers and explore various styles of Latin dance, along with their cultural significance.
Arts journalist Richard Selden leads the tour.
Know Before You Go
- The tour departs by motorcoach from downtown Washington, DC with a designated secondary pick-up outside the city. Content delivered by the study leader on the way to the destination, after the secondary pick-up, is an integral part of the study tour experience. Meeting the group once the tour is en route is discouraged.
- Tour participants meet at and leave by bus from the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C St., SW (corner of 6th and C Sts., SW), with a pickup stop at the I-95 & Virginia Route 123 commuter parking lot at about 8 a.m.
General Information
- Registration for this tour will end by 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 16, 2025.
- Smithsonian Associates is a mask-friendly environment. Please feel free to bring and wear a mask at any time during a tour, both for your safety or the safety of others.
- As we aim to move away from single use water bottles, guests are strongly encouraged to get in the habit of bringing their own reusable water bottle on tour.
- For additional tour information:
