April 26, 2003 – For this week's ArtThursday gallery walk, the final one of the season, Maria Henle Studio is opening an exhibition of 15 Fritz Henle portraits of artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.
Fritz Henle, the internationally acclaimed photographer who moved to St. Croix in the 1950s, met the couple on his first trip to Mexico in 1936.
Frida Kahlo, now an international icon, was photographed then as she and Henle wandered the Riveras' neighborhood of Coyoacán, went boating in the floating gardens of Xochimilco and shopped in the Toluca market.
In 1943, Henle captured Kahlo in her studio, surrounded by her paintings and collection of pre-Colombian artifacts. In Henle's classic portrait of the great muralist Rivera, he is seen napping in the garden, reclining against an Olmec stone head, his dachshunds at his feet.
"In the light of the recent film 'Frida,' which poignantly dramatized Frida's struggle with physical disability and the tempestuous relationship of the two artists, Henle's portraits have special resonance," artist and gallery owner Maria Henle says of her father's photography.
ArtThursday is May 1 from 5 to 9 p.m. The studio is located upstairs at 55 Company Street in Christiansted. For more information, call 773-7376 or visit the Maria Henle Studio Web site.
Other ArtThursday offerings
The following Christiansted galleries and artisan shops also will be open Thursday evening for the ArtThursday gallery walk:
Christiansted Gallery
Correa Studios
Danica Art Gallery
Gallery Gia
ib Designs
Iona Skye Gallery
Jewelweed
ArtThursday is held the first Thursday of each month during season. All venues are located within comfortable walking distance of one another in downtown Christiansted.
Bellows International sponsors ArtThursday. On Thursday evening, nine town restaurants invite gallery goers to stop by and enjoy wine specials at the beginning or end of their foray, or along the way: Bombay Club, Indies, Kendrick's, Paradise Café, Restaurant Bacchus, Tannins, Tivoli Gardens, Top Hat and Tutto Bene.
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