Frieda and Diego Rivera


Frieda and Diego Rivera is a 1931 oil painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. This portrait was created two years after Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera married, and is widely considered a wedding portrait.
The painting shows Kahlo standing next to her husband and fellow artist, Rivera. Rivera, portrayed as a painter, holds a palette and four brushes in his right hand while Kahlo tilts her head towards him. Both are looking out toward the viewer, unsmiling. Kahlo holds her bright red shawl with her left hand. Rivera and Kahlo hold hands in the center of the portrait. Rivera is physically much larger than Kahlo. The pigeon in the upper-righthand corner carries a banner that reads: “Here you see us, me Frieda Kahlo, with my dearest husband Diego Rivera. I painted these pictures in the delightful city of San Francisco California for our companion Mr. Albert Bender, and it was in the month of April of the year 1931.” The work had been commissioned by Albert M. Bender, an art collector and supporter of Rivera.
There are many interpretations of the work. Hayden Herrera, author of , interprets the work simply as Kahlo depicting herself as the wife of the great artist, Rivera. Other authors, such as Margaret Lindauer, investigate the larger context in which the work was created. The banner is supportive of Lindauer's interpretation because it places Kahlo in the producer/professional artist role.
The painting is currently located at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, California. It was gifted to the collection in 1937 by the Albert M. Bender Collection.