| | |  Vallarta Living | Art Talk | October 2009 
Frida Kahlo, Forever Controversial
 Ricardo Castillo - The News
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October 26, 2009
| | A banner at an election rally during the 2006 presidential campaign shows the powerful influence Frida Kahlo still has in Mexico, and the liberties people take with her (and the spelling of her last name). (Connie Watson/CBC) | |
San Miguel de Allende - An allegedly bogus collection of paraphernalia supposedly authored by Mexican art icon, Frida Kahlo, is kicking up a storm and is even the subject of a recent book written by Barbara Levine, "Finding Frida" was presented last week at a local library.
The collection has been called a fake by the president of the Dolores Olmedo Trust Fund, Carlos Olmedo Philips, who owns the rights to the works of Frida Kahlo, as well as those of famous muralist Diego Rivera.
The accusations, however, do not seem to bother Carlos Noyola, who runs an antique shop located at the Aurora Center, an ancient clothing factory where several art galleries have established themselves.
"They have written off the collection because they can't own it or destroy it. My wife (Elizabeth Fernandez) and I are the legal owners. We have the proper documents to vouch for it," Noyola said in an assertive tone.
"What we have here are very powerful vested economic interests that care mostly about the monetary value of the works. They don't talk about the historical value of the collection. That's shameful. They have even filed a criminal complaint with the Attorney General accusing us of being counterfeiters. This is totally absurd."
Noyola is totally convinced of the originality of the collection as he sees Frida's mark on each of the hundreds of items he has locked up in a safe.
"How is it possible to make it a crime to show the works of Frida Kahlo? This a historical character who doesn't just belong to Mexico, but is an international figure. The panic these people suffered (we call them Kahlologists as they think they own Frida Kahlo) was because the Princeton Architectural Press contacted us and Barbara Levine wrote a book, illustrating it with works from our collection. Pick up and read this book and you the reader be the judge, is it or is it not FridO
Noyola dismisses even the idea that any of the works in the collections were falsified.
"If you are going to make a counterfeit you do one of her great oil paintings. The paintings we have in our collection is secondary art. It does not have artistic value. We are experts at valuing works of art. In fact, for me, Frida Kahlo's work is not worth what people say it's worth. As a painter, she was not great. As a work of art the collection has little value. What makes it valuable is Frida herself. She was a brave woman, an icon."
Noyola says he bought this collection from a lawyer, Manuel Marcue, who in turn bought it in the seventies from a sculptor who was a very close friend to Frida Kahlo.
Frida gave him the belongings to safe keep and when she passed away 55 years ago he kept them. He has promoted the collection and sold pieces, some of which have been returned by purchasers after they heard that the items may be counterfeits.
"Even if they were counterfeits, which they are not, the collection has been thoroughly investigated for five years. Five years of wear and tear, money-spending, and we have joyfully devoted ourselves to salvage the historical value of the collection."
Spending money on research and authenticating each of the items that belonged to Kahlo has not been an issue for the Noyola Fernandez family, who besides owning the art gallery "La Buhardille (The Attic) in San Miguel, they run another store in Monterrey.
Owning the Frida Kahlo Collection, more than a problem, has meant a challenge to the family.
"Of course it has cost us money, and will continue to do so. But the more we are criticized by persons who have vested economic interests, the larger the collection grows in scope and image. It is Frida herself doing her job. We are not really doing anything but weathering the storm and paying lawyers and researchers."
Noyola paraphrases Abraham Lincoln, who used to say "you may fool some of the people some time, but you will never be able to fool all the people all the time."
This is a controversy, Noyola says, that has already made it beyond the national borders "and I do not know how far it will go but what is going to be discovered are the mafias, auction houses that lend themselves to make investments for people who have the need to invest in something that's not industry, and art is an investment. But auction houses, he adds, pump up prices and cannot authenticate a work of art nor prove the work was legally acquired.
"We have been defamed for selling counterfeits, but everything we sell we do so on a warranty. We do not certify, only warranty that it is original and that it has been legally obtained. And it is worth what it is worth because we back it up with our experience of 40 years in the business."
He says he mocks those people who value the work of Frida Kahlo in millions of dollars because they may be buying bogus art. "Perhaps those works are counterfeits and what we have is obviously the genuine thing." |
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