Tate Modern is grappling with significant challenges in curating its forthcoming exhibition, "Frida: The Making of an Icon," dedicated to the renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The museum has found it increasingly difficult to secure loans of Kahlo's masterpieces due to her escalating global popularity, market value, and heightened institutional demand. This situation has led to a noticeable reduction in the number of artworks to be featured in the exhibition compared to previous retrospectives.
The exhibition, scheduled to open its doors in June, will showcase 36 pieces by Frida Kahlo. This figure marks a considerable decrease from the more than 50 works that were part of Tate Modern's last major Kahlo exhibition in 2005. This growing scarcity of her artworks in the lending market underscores the profound impact of her rising prominence and the competitive landscape among institutions vying to display her creations. The show is set to debut at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston this month before its London engagement.
The intensity of this challenge became particularly evident last autumn when Kahlo's 1940 painting, 'El sueño (La cama),' fetched an astounding $54.7 million at Sotheby's New York. This sale not only shattered previous records for a work by a woman artist but also significantly surpassed Kahlo's own prior auction high of $34.9 million set in 2021. Such record-breaking sales emphasize how highly coveted and tightly held her most significant works have become, making them exceedingly difficult to borrow.
Curators at Tate Modern are actively striving to secure 'El sueño (La cama)' for the upcoming exhibition, although the prospects for its inclusion appear slim. Tobias Ostrander, one of the exhibition's curators, conveyed to the Times that while the 36 selected works were specifically chosen to explore particular themes, many desired pieces, including some previously loaned by individuals like Madonna in 2005, are now unavailable. This shift highlights the changing dynamics of art loans for such globally recognized figures.
The exhibition aims to offer more than a conventional retrospective. Instead, it intends to situate Kahlo's oeuvre within a broader cultural context. The display will incorporate works from over 80 artists who were influenced by Kahlo, alongside a dedicated section exploring "Fridamania"—the pervasive phenomenon of her image being mass-marketed across various consumer goods, from fashion items to everyday products. This approach seeks to delve into the intricate journey of Kahlo's transformation from a relatively marginal figure during her lifetime into a central icon of 20th-century art history. The exhibition endeavors to unravel this evolution, even as the very popularity it examines complicates the process of gathering her iconic creations.
The upcoming Frida Kahlo exhibition at Tate Modern faces considerable hurdles in assembling a comprehensive collection of her works, primarily due to her soaring market value and global recognition. Despite the reduced number of pieces, the exhibition promises a unique exploration of Kahlo's artistic legacy and cultural impact, highlighting her journey from relative obscurity to a celebrated figure in art history and beyond.