Harvey Weinstein wanted a particular kind of Frida Kahlo. He’d storm onto the set of a biopic he was financing about the Mexican artist, and lambast his star, the actor Salma Hayek. “Harvey complained about Frida’s ‘unibrow’,” Hayek recalled in 2017. “He insisted that I eliminate [Frida’s] limp and berated my performance.” He demanded Frida Kahlo be hot, essentially. That, he insisted, would help her sell.
In the 72 years since her death, Kahlo has indeed become something you can buy – she’s been loudly, if inelegantly, turned into a symbol of feminist, bisexual and disabled progressiveness, and become the go-to face for what could be considered elevated tat: venture onto Etsy today and you’ll find Frida-themed drink flasks, makeup cases, oven mitts, vases and hot water bottle covers. Theresa May once wore pictures of her face – her Marxist, anti-capitalist, gringo-hating face, I should add – on a bracelet. You can buy one of innumerable pairs of Frida-themed socks.
