Frida: The Making of an Icon, Tate Modern, London (25th June 2026 to 3rd January 2027)

Most people, myself included, are far more familiar with seeing Frida Kahlo’s face on everything from tea towels to tote bags than we are with her actual artwork.

The Tate Modern exhibition, Frida: The Making of an Icon, running from 25 June 2026 to 3 January 2027, aims to shift this perception by exploring her artwork and influence since her death. Breaking records as the Tate’s highest-pre-selling exhibition ever, with over 41,000 tickets sold, it reflects an unprecedented level of interest in the artist.

And yet it features just 33 works from the artist herself compared to around 200 from other artists who were inspired by her – including Tracey Emin and Ana Mendieta, both of whom have their own Tate exhibitions this year.

Early life

To understand this enduring icon, the exhibition first explores how her painting career actually began. Kahlo was an aspiring medical student at the elite Preparatoria in Mexico City, where she was one of only a small group of women.

During this time, she was part of an intellectual group of radical students, writers and poets known for causing trouble. Her journey into painting came at the age of 18 when she suffered a horrific accident when a tram she was riding was hit by a bus. Confined to her bed for over eight months, she turned to the canvas to express her reality, ultimately shaping her into the artist she later became.

A pivotal early work from this period of recovery is her 1926 Self-portrait in Velvet Dress (pictured above). Kahlo painted this work as a gift for her then-boyfriend, Alejandro Gómez Arias, who was about to embark on a trip to Europe that would keep him away for nearly a year. Beyond its personal sentiment as a “forget-me-not,” the painting highlights her early ambition. Though self-taught, she produced a sophisticated work that demonstrated her desire to be seen as an intellectual and an avant-garde painter.

Dressed in an open, low-cut velvet robe, she presents herself as a sensual woman while simultaneously signalling her deep knowledge of European art, specifically referencing the styles of Botticelli and Modigliani.

Limited works

However, visitors expecting a comprehensive retrospective may be surprised by the limited number of Kahlo’s own works on display. The exhibition features no more than 33 of her paintings – a notable decrease from the 80 works showcased in the Tate’s 2005 Kahlo exhibition.

Understandably, this has drawn criticism from many reviewers, including Chloë Ashby in The Independent who wrote “it’s hard not to feel cheated” when confronted with secondary reworkings, such as Rosalie Favell’s 2003 interpretation of Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair, in place of the originals.

Co-curator Tobias Ostrander explains that this scarcity is due to the difficulty of securing loans in the current climate. Kahlo is currently the world’s most expensive female artist at auction, with works like her 1940 piece El sueño (La cama) (The Dream) selling for $54.7m last year. Owners are increasingly protective, as evidenced by a collector who withdrew a promised loan upon falling ill because she felt she “couldn’t live without” her Frida.

Furthermore, conservation concerns regarding the delicacy of her works have led to protests against loaning them internationally, as seen with recent disputes in Mexico. Ostrander notes that this protective connection mirrors Kahlo’s own life, where her paintings served as “surrogate selves” to be with friends and lovers when her health prevented her from travelling.

Political convictions

Instead, the exhibition features 200 works by other artists to fill out the narrative, placing Kahlo’s influence in dialogue with her contemporaries and successors as her reputation grew following her death in 1954.

Nor does the exhbition shy away from the political convictions that coloured her life and work. As a committed communist, Kahlo’s home became a sanctuary for political refugees, most notably former Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Her relationship with the revolutionary, including a brief affair in 1937, adds layers of intrigue to her history, particularly as he lived under her roof before his eventual murder with an ice pick.

The narrative effectively traces her posthumous rise, specifically detailing how the US Chicana/o movement of the late 1960s adopted her as a symbol of cultural pride and political resistance. The exhibition reveals that she is as much a subject as she is a source of inspiration, with sections featuring the work of creators such as Nahúm B. Zenil, Georgina Quintana, Tracey Emin and Ana Mendieta. All of these artists utilised the visual language Kahlo pioneered to interrogate themes such as national ideals, patriarchal structures and gender norms.

Ultimately, Frida: The Making of an Icon asks how we might reframe her story for the modern world. As art historian Katy Hessel notes, Kahlo stands apart from historical female archetypes, such as Venus or the Virgin Mary, by crafting herself into an icon on her own terms.

By pairing her paintings with those of her contemporaries and successors, the exhibition demonstrates that Kahlo’s legacy isn’t just a historical footnote, but a force that continues to shape contemporary art. However, fans who are expecting to see more of her own artwork, and less of those from people she influenced, will be left feeling disappointed. 

RATING: 4/5

Frida: The Making of an Icon, is showing at Tate Modern London from 25 June 2026 to 3 January 2027