Fiona Rose - Explores Frida Kahlo: A Life in Art

Frida Kahlo: A Life in Art

Frida Kahlo’s paintings offer a deeply personal encounter with the woman behind the images. Through bold colour and powerful self-portraiture, the Mexican artist expressed her experiences with an honesty that continues to resonate with audiences today.

In this illustrated lecture, Fiona Rose explores Kahlo’s life through some of her most iconic paintings, considering the relationship between her artistic imagination and her lived experience. Often associated with Surrealism, Kahlo maintained that she painted her own reality rather than dreams.

A serious accident during her teenage years left Kahlo facing lifelong physical pain. Her relationship with fellow painter Diego Rivera, whom she married, divorced and remarried, was another significant part of her story. Her paintings provide a way to consider these experiences alongside her political convictions and distinctive creative voice.

Kahlo’s work can be graphic and unflinching, yet it also demonstrates originality, passion and a determination to create beauty in the face of adversity. This lecture offers an opportunity to look beyond her familiar image and appreciate the personal experiences expressed through her art.

Whether you already know Kahlo’s paintings or are discovering them for the first time, join us to explore an artist whose life and work remain closely intertwined.

Lecturer – Fiona Rose

Fiona Rose has been lecturing since 2010 on subjects including Frida Kahlo, William Morris, his daughter May Morris and Frank Lloyd Wright. With a BA in Social Psychology, she brings an interest in the human stories behind the artistic achievements of her subjects.

Following an early career in public health, Fiona founded and runs a home interiors business featuring the work of nineteenth-century designers, including Morris, Dearle, Voysey and Mackintosh.

Fiona is a member of the Museum Collections Committee for The William Morris Society and a former trustee, having chaired its Communications Committee. She regularly contributes to the Society’s magazine and reviews books for the Journal of William Morris Studies. She is also a house guide and specialist lecturer at the David Parr House in Cambridge.

Timings: Tuesday 17th November 2026, starting at 2.30pm. Please arrive a little earlier to be seated.

Venue: Firstsite, Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1JH.