Although Kahlo, who died in 1954 at the age of 47, has one of the most recognizable faces in the world, the painter’s voice has long remained a mystery.
In the 90-second clip, an unidentified speaker, believed to be Kahlo, reads passages from a Kahlo essay titled “Portrait of Diego,” which describes the artist’s husband Diego Rivera. It is believed that the radio show aired in 1953 or 1954.
The soft, melodious voice that may belong to Kahlo speaks the following words translated to English from Spanish:
“He is a gigantic, immense child, with a friendly face and a sad gaze. His high, dark, extremely intelligent and big eyes rarely hold still. They almost come out of their sockets because of their swollen and protuberant eyelids – like a toad’s. They allow his gaze to take in a much wider visual field, as if they were built especially for a painter of large spaces and crowds.”
Historians are currently trying to determine whether the voice on the recording, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of Rivera’s artistic career as a muralist, belongs to Kahlo.
“Frida’s voice has always been a great enigma, a never-ending search. Until now, there had never been a recording of Frida Kahlo,” Sound Library director Pável Granados told media sources.