Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo

In 1931, at the request of Diego Rivera, Juan O’Gorman designed one of the first functionalist architectural structures in Latin America: a dual house-studio complex, one for Diego and one for Frida. Construction was completed in 1932. The couple did not move into the property until 1934, when they returned to Mexico after a three-year stay in the United States.

It was in this house that Frida Kahlo created works that would later cement her reputation as an artist, including “What the Water Gave Me”, “The Watchful Eye” and “The Deceased Dimas”. Six years later, in April 1941, Frida returned to her family home—the now-famous Blue House in Coyoacán—following the death of her father, Guillermo Kahlo. She lived there until her death on 14 July 1954.

Diego Rivera, meanwhile, remained in the house until his own death on 24 November 1957. During this time, he produced the majority of his easel paintings—around three thousand works—and kept there his collection of “Judas” figures and “Calaveras”, as well as part of his collection of pre-Hispanic art and Mexican folk art.

After Rivera’s death, in April 1981 the property was placed under the custodianship of the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA) by the Federal Government, with the mandate to promote, organise and disseminate the fine arts for the benefit of the Mexican public.