russia: moscow: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

I've grown to really appreciate all that Moscow has to offer, and the way I'm able to see something new quite regularly.

This time I heard about a temporary exhibition of the work of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. I didn't know much about either one of them, I had only a vague impression of Kahlo using a lot of flowers. Since the exhibition was only temporary, I figured this was as good a time as any to see a bit of art.

According to Wikipedia, Frida Kahlo was born as Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo de Calderon (what a mouthful!) in 1907 in Mexico.

Kahlo originally wanted to be a doctor, but a traffic accident at age 18 caused lifelong pain, and ended that career before it started. After the accident she went back to a childhood hobby of art, which turned into a lifelong career.

Kahlo is now known for her works on Mexican folk art , portraits and self portraits, and the body. Many of her paintings were considered too shocking to display in her days, she was shut out of exhibitions more than once.

Diego Rivera (born Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, an even bigger mouthful!) was also a Mexican artist, born in 1886.

While Kahlo was born into a mixed family (German father and mestiza mother,) Rivera was born into an upper class Mexican family. He was supported in his artistry from his start, when he started drawing on the walls of the family home at age 3.

When Rivera first met Kahlo, he was already married, to his second wife. She was a student at the time, and twenty years younger than he was. They ended up being married twice, with a very volatile relationship. After she died, he went on to marry for a fifth time!

Rivera had a long and storied career, and had different types of paintings. 

He was originally known for his large murals, but also had some cubist works and post impressionist works.

The exhibition in Moscow was in a large hall somewhat close to Red Square, it was an easy walk from school. I bought my ticket (500 rubles on a regular day, 700 rules on a holiday or weekend,) and put my coat and backpack in the coat check.

The exhibition was arranged with each artist on one side. The walls behind all of Kahlo's works was painted maroon, the walls behind Rivera's works was painted blue. I liked the way everything was arranged, it was easy to walk through without having to circle around too many times.

I realized I'm not much of a fan of Kahlo's style, I thought Rivera was okay. That being said, I don't think I'll ever have any of his stuff on a wall of any home I have.

I took a quick spin through the gift shop after looking at the paintings, (people seem willing to spend a lot of money on things they don't need,) and had my photo taken with a couple instagrammable spots just outside the exhibition.

After leaving the exhibition I walked to a bus stop, and grabbed a bus to the next place I wanted to go in Moscow, a mosque. Moscow Cathedral mosque was originally built in 1904, but doesn't look at all like it did back then.

A little online research tells me it was demolished in 2011, and the orientation toward Mecca was changed by a few degrees, (it had been incorrect for over a century!) The current mosque was inaugurated in 2015, and is said to be able to host 10,000 worshippers at one time. In other words, it is really big.

I saw the mosque only from the outside, as I didn't feel like going through the hassle of security. It's a beautiful building, I wonder how much women are allowed to see.

After the mosque I got back on the metro, and headed toward my last stop for the day: a mall.

Yes, I know how lame that sounds. This stop was because of an Instagram post I'd seen, one with a mirror and skylights.

After wandering through the entire mall, I found what I was looking for, it was actually a walkway going over the street. I really liked it, and had fun people watching as they walked through the passageway. The sides are lined with mirrors, so each time one person walked, it looked like they had multiple identical siblings walking with them.

Another fun Wednesday afternoon :)