Photos of a Very Young Frida Kahlo, Taken by Her Dad

Ay que lin­da! 

Long before the tumul­tuous mar­riage to Diego Rivera and the mor­ti­fi­ca­tions of the flesh occa­sioned by a hor­rif­ic bus acci­dent, and longer still before the avalanche of Fri­da-cen­tric kitsch and tchotchkes and the Julie Tay­mor biopic star­ring Salma Hayek, there was a cheru­bic lit­tle girl named Mag­dale­na Car­men Frie­da Kahlo y Calderón.

Wit­ness these pho­tos of young Mag­dale­na Car­men Frie­da, tak­en by her Hun­gar­i­an Jew­ish father, Guiller­mo, over a peri­od of twen­ty years.

The 2‑year-old Fri­da is mer­ry, chub­by, and bare­ly rec­og­niz­able.

The pierc­ing gaze starts com­ing into focus around age 5.  Kid looks like an artist already!

The famous eye­brows have filled in by 12, when she faces the cam­era in a sailor suit and giant hair bow.

The 18-year-old pre-med stu­dent adopt­ing an unsmil­ing pose in 1926—the year of the accident—is unapolo­getic, intense, and unmis­tak­ably Fri­da Kahlo.

Vis­it Vin­tage Every­day for more of Guiller­mo Kahlo’s images of his sec­ond-to-last daugh­ter.

Relat­ed Con­tent:

Fri­da Kahlo Writes a Per­son­al Let­ter to Geor­gia O’Keeffe After O’Keeffe’s Ner­vous Break­down (1933)

Fri­da Kahlo and Diego Rivera Vis­it Leon Trot­sky in Mex­i­co, 1938

A Quick Ani­ma­tion of Fri­da Kahlo’s Famous Self Por­trait

Ayun Hal­l­i­day is an author, home­school­er, and Chief Pri­ma­tol­o­gist of the East Vil­lage Inky zine. Fol­low her @AyunHalliday