MoMA Announces Focused Kahlo and Rivera Exhibition in New York Presented in Dialogue with Metropolitan Opera

The Museum of Modern Art has announced the organization of Frida and Diego: The Last Dream, a focused exhibition examining the artistic legacy of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Drawing exclusively from the museum’s existing collection, the presentation seeks to recontextualize the relationship between these two pivotal twentieth-century figures through a bespoke gallery design conceived in collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera.

The exhibition is distinguished by an interdisciplinary approach that integrates scenography with art history. MoMA has commissioned Jon Bausor, the stage set and co-costume designer for the opera El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, to develop an immersive environment for the installation. Bausor’s design is intended to transpose the narrative atmosphere of the stage production into the gallery space, creating an “otherworldly setting” that offers a novel framework for viewing the works of Kahlo and Rivera.

Frida Kahlo. My Grandparents, My Parents, and I. Oil and tempera on zinc. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Allan Roos, M. D., and B. Mathieu Roos. © Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Jonathan Muzikar

The curatorial scope focuses on key holdings within the museum’s Department of Painting and Sculpture. The installation will present five paintings and a drawing by Kahlo, including the seminal Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair and Fulang-Chang and I. These will be juxtaposed with over a dozen works by Rivera, notably Flower Festival: Feast of Santa Anita and Agrarian Leader Zapata. To provide further historical context, the exhibition will also feature photographic portraits of the couple by distinguished photographers such as Lola Álvarez Bravo and Leo Matiz.

The thematic architecture of the exhibition is informed by the narrative arc of the associated opera, El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego. Composed by Grammy Award-winner Gabriela Lena Frank with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz, the opera is set during the Day of the Dead. The plot follows an aging Rivera as he summons Kahlo, facilitating a mythical exploration of their turbulent creative partnership. The museum’s presentation aims to mirror this dialogue, shedding light on how their output continues to resonate across different artistic disciplines.

The exhibition is organized by Beverly Adams, The Estrellita Brodsky Curator of Latin American Art, in collaboration with Jon Bausor. The curatorial team includes Caitlin Chaisson and Rachel Remick, Curatorial Assistants within the Department of Painting and Sculpture.

Frida and Diego: The Last Dream will be on view at The Museum of Modern Art from March 29 through September 12, 2026. The Metropolitan Opera’s production, directed by Deborah Colker, will premiere on May 14 and run through June 5, 2026.