I have an old post that says, February! How did that happen? So I didn’t call this post, August! How did that happen? But it’s how I feel.

The Shy Museum Goer has a new post about a Mexican artist, a woman who is not Frida Kahlo. Maria Izquierdo has a fascinating story of struggle, on the way to exploiting her amazing artistic talent. https://theshymuseumgoer.com/2026/07/16/maria-izquierdo-remembers-it-all/ She was a protege of Diego Rivera, who later sabotaged an artistic commission she had been given. What’s that about!?

Among other topics, Izquierdo painted what might be called domestic altars, places in a home with pictures of saints, candles, relics, flowers. Shy Museum Goer shows one with the Virgin Mary in the middle, tilting her head sideways. Later, another painting of a domestic altar shows a window to the sea instead of the Virgin. I had a highly ambivalent reaction to this substitution. The second painting was completed after Izquierdo had a stroke and had to relearn painting with her left hand. Just before her stroke Izquierdo painted a very disturbing picture of someone losing her mind. It featured a headless body running away. I was unsure, for a while, if I wanted to share the vision of this artist!

Izquierdo had twenty exhibitions in her lifetime and Kahlo only had two, but Kahlo is much more famous at this time. Perhaps that should change. Also, all Izquierdo’s pictures are still under copyright. Check them out at the Shy Museum Goer’s website.

Since I can’t put up Izquierdo’s paintings, the header is from the NOAA website. It looks very modern.

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This painting, titled The Kitchen Maid, is not modern or Mexican, it’s just evocative of domestic duties getting out of hand. Jean Simeon Chardin, French, 1738, NGA.