Ninety years ago, the charming Mexico City neighborhood of Coyoacán was home to a multitude of prominent political activists and artists. Among them were Frida Kahlo and Leon Trotsky—two people from very different backgrounds whose lives became intertwined. After their deaths both their houses became museums to preserve important places in Mexican history. Each one reflects their very different circumstances and the passions that inspired them. Both offer a glimpse of how their owners spent their last years.
The Barrio of Coyoacán
The charming suburb of Coyoacán, where both Frida Kahlo’s Blue House and The Leon Trotsky House Museum are located, has long been an important place. The Tepaneca people worked volcanic stone there before the Aztec incorporated it into their empire. It was at this time that it was given its current name, which translates to “place of the coyotes.” The Tepaneca resented Aztec rule, so when Hernan Cortés defeated them, the Spanish were welcomed into what had been Tepaneca territory.
At the time of the Spanish invasion, the Aztec capital—Tenochtitlan—was on an island within a great lake, while Coyoacán was a separate settlement on the southern shore. Cortés actually chose to live there instead of the old Aztec city, and for two years it was where his government was based. A thriving silversmithing industry developed, and Spanish nobles built grand mansions while priests constructed churches and monasteries. The capital was eventually moved to Tenochtitlan, but Coyoacán remained an important place. Over the years, the lake was drained to provide more land, Tenochtitlan became Mexico City, and Coyoacán was absorbed into the urban sprawl.
Despite this, it retained a village feel thanks to its early history. The indigenous settlements had been interlaced with canals, fringed by farmland and navigated by boat. Even after the lake had disappeared, remnants of this landscape remained in the area and the last canals can still be found in nearby Xochimilco today. It became known for its bohemian atmosphere, attracting many of Mexico’s most famous creatives in the 20th century. Octavio Paz, Mario Morena, and Dolores del Rio all made homes there, as did the exiled King Carol the Second of Romania.
The Turbulent Life of Frida Kahlo
Among those who chose to settle there were artist Frida Kahlo’s parents. She was born in the grand family home that would become known as The Blue House, growing up within its walls. Having been exposed to the eclectic mix of people who lived in the area during her childhood, she developed an artistic and rebellious personality. She fell in with a group of intellectuals known as the “Cachuchas” at university, detailing her involvement in several trouble-making pranks in her diaries.
She was with one of these friends when her life was changed forever. The bus they were traveling on was involved in an accident with a tram, and she was impaled by a metal handrail. She spent months in bed recuperating and would never fully recover her health. She had been studying to become a doctor but realized that she would now be unable to follow this path. Her mother set up an easel over her bed, and painting provided her with both a way to pass the time and a new purpose. It was during this time she developed her distinctive magical realism-influenced style.
She had met the man who would become her husband a few years earlier as he painted the wall of her school. They were reintroduced at a party once she had recovered, and he remembered the paintings she had shown him. Today Kahlo is probably more famous internationally, but during her lifetime it was Diego Rivera who achieved greater renown. He was known for his murals and painted some of Mexico’s most important buildings. They married and moved into The Blue House, where they would live on-and-off for the rest of her life.
Diego’s career took them to the USA where he was commissioned by the Rockefellers and the Detroit Institute of Art, among others. Their circle of contacts expanded beyond their artistic and left-wing friends in Mexico City, to include members of high society on both sides of the border. Their relationship was a passionate one, defined by tumultuous highs and lows. Diego was often unfaithful, as was Frida later on, and they experienced separations and reconciliations over the years.
The Life of Leon Trotsky
Despite coming from very different parts of the world, there were similarities between the lives of Frida Kahlo and Russian revolutionary Leon Trosky. Both had upper middle-class upbringings, and although Trotsky did not show a particular interest in art, Kahlo shared the political views to which Trotsky dedicated his life. Like Kahlo, Trotsky also gave up studying for a conventional career and focused on organizing workers’ movements.
Growing up in the last decades of the Russian Empire, Trotsky’s decision to engage in left-wing politics meant committing to a life of tribulation and danger. He spent time imprisoned in Siberia and, after managing to escape, exiled in Europe. This was the fate of many of Russia’s political activists, and so when the revolution broke out, he scrambled back to influence the country’s future direction, alongside comrades like Vladimir Lenin.
Having succeeded in ensuring that post-revolution Russia became the Soviet Union, and was ruled by their Bolshevik party, Trotsky settled into life as one of the country’s most important people. Things were going well while Lenin was its first premier, but when he died Trotsky found himself in difficulty. A power struggle developed between himself and Josef Stalin, which Stalin would win. Trotsky found himself in exile once again, regularly on the move around Europe.
His position was a difficult one. He would never be welcome in Russia while Stalin was in control, but governments elsewhere feared his ideology. He was one of the world’s most famous communists and they worried that he could stir up revolution in their countries. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were members of the Mexican Communist Party and were keeping a close eye on events. Eventually, they used the influence that their fame had brought them to convince their government to give Trotsky asylum.
The Famous Blue House
The Frida Kahlo Museum offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of its famous occupants. The already beautiful mansion is adorned with an eclectic and bohemian collection of artwork and decoration gathered during her life there. This includes pieces which she herself painted, as well as those by Diego Rivera and their famous friends. Kahlo had a deep interest in Mexico’s indigenous peoples—particularly their artistic styles, which she incorporated into her own work. Dotted around the grounds are pre-Hispanic artefacts, sculptures, and even a miniature replica pyramid. The majority of the house is painted in the brilliant blue from which it takes its name, while parts are encrusted with shells and volcanic stone. Light, open, and inviting, it is hard to imagine a home which better suits the image of an iconic artistic couple.
Having arrived in Mexico thanks to Kahlo and Rivera’s help, Trotsky actually lived in The Blue House when he arrived. They hosted him for over two years, attracting even more political luminaries to the house, and providing a place for him to write new books. He and Kahlo were even briefly lovers—despite their respective partners sharing the same home. This probably added to the tension that was already being generated by disputes about ideological issues and Rivera’s artistic criticisms of Trotsky’s writing.
The Trotsky House Museum
Trotsky and his wife ultimately moved into their own house, just a few blocks away. While both buildings were typical Coyoacán mansions, and both are now museums, they feel strikingly different. Trotsky knew that he was in danger—as long as he was alive Stalin would consider him a threat. The international nature of the communist movement, and the fact that Stalin was its global figurehead, meant that he had supporters all over the world. There were communists in Mexico who were willing to do his bidding and eliminate anyone he judged to be an enemy of his regime.
Safety measures had been taken when Trotsky had lived in The Blue House, including the bricking up of street facing windows, but these could be reversed once he left. Trotsky’s house was turned into a fortress, and these protective features still define the museum today. High walls surrounded the inner courtyard, and guard towers were built to provide further defense. With its enclosed spaces and unadorned walls, it is hard to imagine a greater contrast to Kahlo and Rivera’s home. These proved to be necessary when a group of Russian secret agents unsuccessfully attempted to storm the house.
Stalin’s agents were unable to breach the defenses, but Trotsky could not protect against subterfuge. Three months after the attack on his house, the Spanish husband of Trotsky’s housekeeper was persuaded to use his access to carry out another assassination attempt. On August 20, 1940, he attacked Trotsky in his study with a pickaxe. Trotsky fought back, and the assassin was detained, but the revolutionary died from his injuries a day later.
The house became a museum to mark the 50th anniversary of Trotsky’s death. It has been preserved as it was when it was still occupied, giving a sense of the place at the moment of his death and the fear under which he lived. Visitors can view the guard towers, as well as bullet holes in both the interior and exterior walls left behind from the first attempt to storm the house. The center piece of the garden is the grave where Trotsky and his wife are buried.
Kahlo’s life had been intertwined with Trotsky’s since he had arrived in Mexico. She was briefly suspected of involvement in the murder and was detained for questioning. He had been in ill health before the attack, and so in this too he mirrored Kahlo. She was still suffering from the consequences of the bus crash which had plagued her adult life, with her spine severely damaged. On top of this, she was beset with a serious infection, and ongoing issues caused by heavy drinking. Her health deteriorated badly just as she was beginning to step out of Rivera’s shadow and gain recognition for her own art. She died in 1954, and over the following decades achieved the fame that she had never known in life. The contrasting homes which the two left behind are a testament to the differing courses of their lives, as well as to their significant impact on the course of 20th century history.
