For someone who has achieved cult status for the way she spilled her guts onto the canvas, Frida Kahlo's work remains wrapped in an aura of mystery. "You can't separate the paintings from her biography," says Helga Prignitz-Poda, the curator of "Frida Kahlo — Retrospective." "But there is always another layer."

The show runs until Aug. 9 at Berlin's Martin Gropius Bau museum. One of Kahlo's first paintings, the Self-Portrait in Velvet Dress, from 1926, is on view, and the only two major Kahlo collections, in their entirety.

A 256-page exhibition catalgoue with 196 color images is available (Prestel-Verlag).