Nickolas Muray, “Frida Kahlo on White Bench, New York”, 1939

Nickolas Muray was born in Szeged, Hungary on February 15, 1892. He attended a graphic arts school in Budapest where he studied lithography, photoengraving, and photography; he graduated with an International Engraver’s Certificate. Later in Berlin, Murray studied color photoengraving.

In 1913, at the age of 21, Muray traveled to New York City, where he was determined to make a name for himself. In 1921, while living in Greenwich Village, he opened a studio and quickly built a reputation after his photo shoot of the actress Florence Reed for Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Over the next ten years, Muray produced over 10,000 celebrity portraits.

In May of 1931, Nickolas Murray met Frida Kahlo while vacationing in Mexico. They engaged in an affair that would last, on and off, for nearly 10 years. Muray and Kahlo were at the height of their love affair in 1939. The affair began after Muray was divorced from his second wife and shortly after Kahlo’s marriage to Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. Muray wanted to marry Frida. When it became apparent that she wanted Muray as a lover and not as a husband, the affair ended. He and Kahlo remained good friends until her death in 1954.