Students, faculty and community members gathered in Moody Hall on Friday, Sept. 26, for a rare opportunity to connect with the living legacy of one of Mexico’s most famous artistic families.
Cristina Kahlo, great-grandniece of iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, and an artist herself, visited campus as part of SMU’s National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations. During her lecture, she explored how the Kahlo family’s creative traditions and values have been passed down through generations and continue to influence art and culture today.
Tracing her family tree from 1891 to the present, Kahlo highlighted the stories, knowledge and practices passed down through generations.
“The family I belong to is a legacy that does not like material goods, but what is more important is the actions, experience, and knowledge that have been transmitted through the generations, and that is an inspiration since it has been part of our environment,” she said.
Cristina explained that the environment was shaped early by her great-grandfather, Guillermo Kahlo, who immigrated from Germany to Mexico and became a renowned photographer. His work, particularly in portraiture, left a mark not only on the family but on Frida Kahlo herself, who is celebrated for her self-portraits. Cristina noted how the constant presence of photography in her household made self-representation a natural part of her family’s creative identity.
Frida is one of the most recognized artists in the world and continues to inspire reflection on identity, resilience, and creativity. She was deeply influenced by her father, Guillermo’s, photographic self-portraits.
“Frida saw her father doing photographic self-portraits, and that generated in her that self-representation entered in a very natural way in her artistic creation,” Cristina said.
Cristina also shared personal reflections, recalling how her father’s sudden death when she was 13 left her determined to continue the family’s artistic legacy. He was a photographer, and Cristina, along with her siblings, carried on his passion. Today, Cristina’s children also pursue creative expression, keeping art at the heart of the Kahlo family story.
Luis Rodríguez Bucio, the Mexican Consul General in Dallas, highlighted the significance of the lecture for SMU’s community.
“Mexican artists have not only shaped the cultural life of Mexico but have also left a lasting mark on the world across nations and generations, and few families embody this legacy as profoundly as the Kahlo family,” Rodríguez Bucio said.
As the evening concluded, attendees were left with more than a history lesson. They walked away with an appreciation for how family legacies shape the present and influence the future. For Cristina, that continuity is the true inheritance of her name.
