For the first time ever, you can now listen to iconic 20th-century Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s voice.
The National Sound Library of Mexico has discovered a possible recording of Kahlo reading from her 1949 essay Portrait of Diego on the popular 1950’s radio show El Bachiller.
“Frida’s voice has always been a great enigma, a never-ending search… until now, there had never been a recording of Frida Kahlo” stated Pavel Grandos, National Sound Director Mexico.
The woman is described as the female artist “who no longer exists” in the 1955 episode, which aired a year after Kahlo’s death in 1954. The interview was recorded in the early 1950s.
Kahlo describes Diego Rivera, a man she shared a passionate and tumultuous relationship with, as being “a gigantic immense child, with a friendly face and a sad gaze” in the recording.
Kahlo’s face has been captured in photographs before and in her self portraits and depicts a strong woman with a powerful gaze. People will be surprised to see that her voice doesn’t quite match her idealised persona, due to it’s gentle and soft tones.
An investigation into 1300 other recordings of El Bachiller is currently underway to see if more of Kahlo’s sweet voice exists.
