Paintings by Frida Kahlo are rare sights in U.S. museums, so the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston could be excused for making a big deal out of its latest acquisition. The museum announced this week that it acquired the first painting the famous Mexican painter ever sold.
The piece is called Dos Mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia) and was completed in 1928. Since 1929, when Kahlo herself sold it, the piece has been in private hands in the U.S. It is the first work by Kahlo the MFA in Boston - or any museum in New England for that matter - has acquired.
Although Kahlo is best known for her striking self portraits, this image shows two other women. Matthew Teitelbaum, Ann and Graham Gund Director at the MFA, said that the subjects are two maids Kahlo had known since childhood.
“Frida Kahlo’s work is a 20th-century touchstone, and we’re proud to be able to count this remarkable acquisition among the MFA’s masterpieces of art of the Americas,” Teitelbaum said in a statement. “As our community continues to grow and evolve, we’re committed to representing the diverse experiences of artists in our galleries.”
The work will now be on view through March 1. The piece will go through the conservation treatment, then be installed in the Art of the Americas Wing.
According to NPR, prior to the acquisition, only 12 Kahlo pieces were held in American public collections.
Kahlo lived from 1907 to 1954 and died when she was 47.