While she lived, Frida Kahlo was known mainly as the wife of the famed muralist Diego Rivera. Yet in the decades since her death, Kahlo has become hugely famous. In 1990, Kahlo became the first Mexican artist to break the record of one million dollars at an auction. Her vivid self-portraits continue to be widely sought after by collectors willing to pay high prices for her paintings. Although Kahlo is often described as a painter intent on exploring her own personal reality, many of her paintings include references to Mexico’s political and social history. It’s not surprising, then, that in 1985, the Mexican government publicly proclaimed her work a national treasure