AU501 – Diego and Frida

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, the iconic Mexican artists whose passionate, volatile yet enduring relationship created numerous great works of art. They shared a deep artistic and political bond which helped create some of the most iconic paintings of the 20th century.

This 3-week course will explore their tumultuous relationship and the wonderful paintings it produced.

Known as the “fat frog and the delicate dove,” they blended profound mutual admiration with infidelity, creating distinct, passionate works that explored identity, politics, and pain. Married in 1929, they held contrasting styles: Rivera was a celebrated, large-scale muralist focusing on history and politics, while Kahlo created small, deeply personal, and surrealist self-portraits.