Frida Kahlo’s house, “Casa Azul” in Mexico City is now a museum. It’s bright medium blue and maroon. It’s immediately recognizable if you’ve ever read or watched anything about Frida. She was born, lived most of her life, and died in this house. Much of her work was created here, so of course, it’s a mecca for lovers of the artist. Myself included.
People often ask me how I decide where to travel; this is a good example. Before I decided to go to Mexico City, I knew two things. One, Frida Kahlo had lived there; two, her house was a museum. That’s how I decide on trips.
It took several years before the stars aligned and I made my way to Mexico City. Then, I stood outside the front door of the famous “Casa Azul.”
Buying Tickets to Frida Kahlo’s House, Casa Azul
The Anthropology Museum is the most popular museum in Mexico. Frida Kahlo’s house is the second most popular museum in Mexico. That’s pretty amazing since there are over 150 museums in Mexico City alone.
Getting tickets to the museum can be tricky and requires pre-planning or a connection. I visited twice and paid a guide to obtain the tickets. There is no line for tickets because all entries are timed, and tickets must be purchased online. Still, crowds mill about outside. The streets are filled with vendors selling everything you can imagine with Frida’s face and art depicted on it.
Entering Frida’s Courtyard with the Famous Pyramid
When you enter the courtyard, you enter through double wooden doors big enough for a car. The spectacular courtyard is about the size of half a football field. By middle-class American standards, it’s a large yard but not massive.
Because they have mild weather all year, the house’s courtyard was as much a “room” as any. In the center is a famous blue and maroon “pyramid.” Her husband, famed muralist Diego Rivera, made it to hold her Aztec statues. Before regulation, the couple traveled to ancient sites and excavated the ruins themselves!
Fun fact: You can find a replica of this pyramid in the Vallarta Botanical Garden in Puerto Vallarta. You can also buy a miniature to take home.
Pre-Columbian sculptures line the courtyard and can be spotted between various gardens and ponds. This courtyard is a well-lived-in place.
Inside Frida’s Blue House
Inside, one room leads to the next, with various doors leading to the courtyard. The house is just as Frida and Diego left it when she died in 1954. Some of her most famous paintings are on display. Art you’ll find includes the last one she ever painted a week before her death titled, “Viva la Vida, Watermelons.”
Frida’s belongings are displayed throughout the house as if she still lived there. Once she died, Diego knew it would be a museum and kept it intact. Her paintings sit alongside some from Diego with photographs, journals, books, furniture, and art supplies.
I loved that it was filled with windows that looked out over the courtyard, bringing the outdoors inside. There are many artistically intriguing rooms, and I wondered how people might live in such a place. The connecting rooms and central courtyard were unlike any traditional home I’d ever seen. It was lovely and unique, but not comfortable.
Fun Fact: It is made of stone and concrete, and if you look up, you’ll see that even the stonework in the ceiling has patterns.
You can see Frida’s artist’s studio and the famous bed with a mirror mounted on the top. This was so Frida could paint self-portraits while lying down. She was often recovering from surgery or illness – of which she had many. More than anything, many collections, Hispanic arts, and oddities are displayed in the house.
Frida’s death mask sits on her bed, and an urn holds her ashes in the adjacent room. The urn is shaped like a toad – a reference to Diego, who called himself the “toad-frog.”
Frida’s Dresses and Jewelry
Some rooms have been transformed to create the museum and gift shop. Other rooms now hold her various “adornments” in another section of the house across the courtyard.
You’ll find displays of her famous clothing and accessories and many knickknacks, books and memorabilia in a museum setting. I wonder where she kept it all when she was alive – I didn’t see any closets.
If you read the signs, you’ll learn Frida made the displayed dolls you’ll find around her in her own likeness. Also, hidden among the displays of her clothing and jewelry is a white earring shaped like a hand. It was gifted to her by Pablo Picasso (See self-portrait dedicated to Dr. Eloesser, 1940 where she wears the earring). Also displayed are her wheelchair, many corsets to help with her spine issues, crutches and other devices that helped her walk. There are also shoes, two different sizes, and one always with a lift to accommodate her one shorter leg.
Frida’s Final Words and Work
The corsets and other contraptions are a poignant reminder that this woman was in constant pain. Each day would have been a struggle, yet it did not stop her art. She was only 47 years old when she died.
Her last painting, “Viva la Vida, Watermelons,” has never left the home. Roughly translated, it means, “Long live life.”
In her journals, some on display, the last thing she wrote was,
“I hope the end is joyful, and I hope never to return.”
Friday Kahlo
Visit Frida’s Kahlo House and Museum
It costs about 230 pesos ($15) for a ticket and must be bought in advance online. Tickets sell out weeks in advance. To take pictures, you’ll have to pay another 30 pesos at the door and receive a red sticker granting permission.
There’s a small gift shop in the house with prints, jewelry, postcards and a few other related items. The art and crafts store next to Frida’s house is worth stopping in, too if you’re looking for unique items.
Read more stories about things to do in Mexico here.
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