Becoming [Mexican] Frida Kahlo (BBC)

New book gathers every single documented Frida Kahlo, including lost works

Goddess and God of Christianity, Catholic icons, a Mary and the Jesus. Which Mary?

Revolutionary Che Guevara, artist Frida Kahlo, and Goddess la Virgin de Guadalupe

• Who's Frida Kahlo?
• The Eyebrow Lady? Isn't she Che Guevara's divine consort?
• We prefer to think of her as the Unibrow Goddess, thank you. What is a "divine consort"?
• Y'know, like, Goddesses are always paired with Gods. There's Krishna and Radha, Shiva and Parvati, the Buddha and Kwan Yin, the Jesus and Mary [Magdelene] Chain, Muhammad and Khadija, and now Che and Frida.
• Oh, yeah, something like that -- iconic -- but the Buddha did not have a wife. Prince Siddhartha (who later became the Buddha) did, and here name was Bimba (though the world remembers her as Yasodhara, which is a description, and by many other names).

BBC: Becoming Frida Kahlo

A divine couple, Frida and Che (modern art)

There are many myths that surround the passionate, radical Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón, 1907–1954), the most famous female artist of the 20th century.

This compelling art documentary attempts to set the record straight. It reveals how politics, love, and art shaped Frida as an individual and as an artist. And it shows how she ultimately strived to be free from the control and influence of men.

• WATCH NOW: Becoming Frida Kahlo (BBC Select)
• Watch Becoming Frida Kahlo and more acclaimed documentaries on BBC Select today. Restrictions apply.* Get it on Apple TV Prime Video, The Roku Channel

Becoming Frida Kahlo on BBC Select

Her Story: Frida Kahlo · Mexican feminist icon, artist (She Made History.com)

Episode 1: "Tragedy Strikes"

Frida Kahlo, husband Diego Rivera

When an accident changes Frida’s life, she channels pain and heartache into painting. Frida Kahlo was a rebel from the outset, challenging norms from an early age. As a young woman, she met Mexican Diego Rivera, a superstar artist who would go on to change her. But a tragic accident thwarted Frida’s plans. Left facing a life of pain and injury, she channeled this tragedy and used it as the catalyst for her artistic career.

Episode 2: "Travel and Turmoil"

Kahlo’s potent portrait on US-Mexico border

Now married and living in 1930s America, Frida witnesses the ugly side of capitalism. Frida Kahlo traveled to America alongside her lover Diego Rivera, who’d been commissioned to produce an important mural. But Frida was determined to succeed in her own right. She was shocked by the vast gap between rich and poor in America. Then after losing a child to miscarriage and her mother to illness, she produced some of her most visceral and devastating works.

Episode 3: "The Final Years"

Dangerous politics and turbulent [bisexual] love distort and devastate Frida Kahlo’s world. After a short affair with Leon Trotsky, Frida finally achieved her own solo exhibition in Europe. But all does not go according to plan. She learns that husband Diego Rivera wants a divorce. Pouring her pain into her work, she creates her masterpiece: The Two Fridas. Her last years are spent in agony, while creating some of her most enduring images. Source

• BBC Select 2025; Crystal Quintero, Pfc. Sandoval, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly