It seems likely Frida Kahlo would have approved, at least of the contents if not the packaging. The heirs of the Mexican artist are launching a tequila bearing her name for sale in the US.
"It has been an exciting adventure to develop and launch a product that would characterize my Aunt Frida, her love for Mexico, her strength and her passion for life," said her niece, Isolda Kahlo.
"Tequila, her favorite drink, accompanied her in the greatest moments of her life," she said.
Frida Kahlo Tequila is made in Jesus Maria in the highlands of Jalisco in Mexico and comes in three varieties, retailing at US$50, US$65 and US$90 a bottle. Each bottle bears a picture of Kahlo and sells under the slogan "Being original is no sin."
The Frida Kahlo Corporation, created by Isolda Kahlo, also plans to market a 50cm Frida doll. The family has marketed Frida Kahlo jewellery and clothing after her niece won the rights to register the name as a brand.
But the commercialization of the painter, who died in 1954 at the age of 47, has provoked a row between her friends, family and critics. Movies, biographies and exhibitions have promoted Kahlo as much for her work as for her lifestyle, leading to what critics label "Fridamania". Her work is held in most major collections, and the Mexican actor Salma Hayek portrayed her in a 2002 biopic. Famously bawdy, Kahlo married the muralist Diego Rivera but also had many lovers, including Leon Trotsky. One of the biggest collectors of her work is the singer Madonna.
"The person at the center of this commercialization is Frida Kahlo and if she knew what was being done in her name, poor thing, I think her ashes would be moving in their urn," the art historian Teresa del Conde told the Mexican newspaper El Universal.
The art critic Raquel Tibol, who lived with Kahlo for several years at the end of her life, questioned the right of the painter's niece to market the name, arguing that a trust established by Rivera owned the rights and that all profits should go back to the trust.
"It's shameful," she said. "Who gave them permission to use her name? Isolda has gone mad in her desire to make money from her family name. This time she's stepped over the line, it's a total lack of respect."
She added that Kahlo drank a bottle of tequila a day to overcome the pain from an accident she suffered in her youth, as well as the emotional pain she suffered at the hands of Rivera and her other suitors.
Mara de Anda, the granddaughter of Isolda Kahlo and commercial director of the Frida Kahlo Corporation, defended the use of the painter's image and the forthcoming launch of the Frida Kahlo doll.
The dolls will be clad in traditional Mexican dress, a style favored by the painter.
"We know there are people who will not like it and they are within their rights to think what they want," she said. "We are looking after Frida's image. We do it for Mexico, for the culture, so people know more about our traditions."
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