The archives found the only audio recording with the voice of Frida Kahlo

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The image of Frida Kahlo, with her characteristic fused eyebrows, her hair parted in the middle, with bright lipstick and often in a wreath of flowers, has become, perhaps, even better known than her paintings - this artist radiates strength and self-confidence even from photographs. However, until recently, there was not a single recording of her voice. So far, quite by accident, the record has not been found in the archives of Mexico City.

68 years have passed since the death of Frida Kahlo, and people who knew her personally and could confirm that the voice really belongs to the artist have already died. However, experts are sure that Frida's speech is still recorded on the tape. The recording was found while digitizing the archives of the National Sound Library in Mexico City.

The recording is a 90-second speech, read by a female voice, created back in 1953 or 1954. It was a pilot version of a Mexican radio program called The Bachelor. The woman in the recording describes Diego Rivera, the ex-husband of Frida Kahlo. “He is a large child, massive, with a friendly face and sad expression in his eyes,” says the woman, presumably Frida Kahlo. "His bulging, dark, intelligent and big eyes are riveting."

The recording aired in 1955. At the beginning of the recording, the announcer introduces the woman as an artist “who no longer exists”. Frida Kahlo did indeed die in July 1954 when she was only 47 years old. Rivera died three years later.

READ ALSO: Diego Rivera is a great mural painter who went down in history as a macho and Frida's husband

“His dark and incredibly intelligent and large eyes rarely stop. They almost protrude from their depressions due to swollen and bulging eyelids, like a toad. They allow his gaze to encompass much more, as if they were specially created for an artist who paints large spaces and crowds of people."

Voice verification will take time. The investigation will affect library workers, sound engineers and experts. The director of the Frida Kahlo museum, Hilda Trujillo, doubts that the voice belongs to Frida. “It seemed to me deeper and more hoarse. Towards the end of her life, Frida was very ill, drank a lot and smoked heavily. " Also not sure about the authenticity and the artist Rina Laso, who is now 95 years old and who personally knew both Frida and Diego Rivera. In her opinion, Frida sounded "a little more emotional."

On the other hand, experts point out that the woman in the recording is definitely not a radio host, since her reading does not comply with the rules for speaking on the radio, and also that the recording was most likely made on some kind of portable device, and not on professional equipment in the radio studio.

In our article "Magnificent Frida Kahlo" you can see rare photographs of the iconic artist from the 1920s.