Google curates an online exhibition of Frida Kahlo artworks and artefacts

If you, like us, have been counting down the days to the V&A’s upcoming Frida Kahlo exhibition this June then we have some great news.

The Google Arts and Culture app has launched an online Frida Kahlo retrospective, Faces of Frida, that delves deep into the iconic artist’s work, life and legacy. The Google team has collaborated with 33 museums in seven countries in order to gather 800 items for the exhibition, making Faces of Frida the largest collection of artworks and artefacts ever to go on display.

Faces of Frida features paintings and self-portraits, sketches, diary entries, photographs and letters from various stages of the artist’s life. The website is divided into various sections like “The real Frida”, which moves beyond her legendary status to focus on her political views and biographical details. It also hones in on the hidden details and overarching themes in some of the artist’s most iconic works like Self-Portrait with Monkey, 1945 and Henry Ford Hospital. The exhibition even lets you visit some of Frida Kahlo’s most significant locations, like La Casa Azul and Palacio de Bellas Artes, through street view.

“It’s a true global effort,” explains Google’s head of Hispanic communications Jesús Garcia. “Frida’s name kept coming up as a top contender when we started to think of what artist would be the best to feature in a retrospective. There’s so much of her that was not known and could still be explored from an artistic perspective and life experience.”