The Art Institute of Chicago is presenting "Frida Kahlo’s Month in Paris: A Friendship with Mary Reynolds," an exhibition running from March 29 to July 13, 2025. It focuses on Kahlo's first and only trip to Europe in 1939, where she fell ill and convalesced at the home of American avant-garde bookbinder Mary Reynolds. The show features approximately 100 objects, including paintings, book bindings, and letters, drawn from the Art Institute's Mary Reynolds Collection and loans from the US, Mexico, and Europe.
This exhibition matters because it sheds light on a little-known chapter of 20th-century art history, highlighting the cross-cultural exchange between Kahlo and the Parisian Surrealist circle on the eve of World War II. By pairing Kahlo with the lesser-known Reynolds, the show reorients understanding of how artists inspire one another through friendship and chance encounters. It also marks the first time Kahlo's work has been displayed at the Art Institute, offering new insights into her engagement with European Surrealism.