The Cult of Kahlo. BBC Four, Thursday, October 31, 9-10pm.
A Frida Kahlo painting sold recently for more than pound;2.5 million - not bad for a woman once dismissed as “a bisexual communist dwarf with a hairy lip” - and the extent of Kahlo’s popularity, according to a dealer, may be judged by the number of forgeries produced since her death in 1954, especially in the past 15 years. The chief subject of her own work, she’s become an icon, easily recognised and reproduced. She is also the subject of a soon-to-be-released feature film. This documentary looks at her tormented life (after a crippling injury in her teens), her posthumous reputation and her relationship with her husband, Diego Rivera. The last of which makes her an awkward heroine, but more interesting than your average bisexual dwarf.
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