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Frida Kahlo's diary, like her art, is painted in breathtakingly vivid colors. It covers her tumultuous last decade and encompasses love letters, political musings on Communism, and resplendent paintings. The paintings, peopled with mythic figures, self-portraits, and monsters, articulate Kahlo's fantastic visions. One drawing melds a procession of crying faces onto an intertwined couple surrounded by body parts, only to dissolve into a mass of roots and dendrites.

In the introduction, Carlos Fuentes writes, "...a streetcar crashed into the fragile bus she was riding, broke her spinal column, her collarbone, her ribs, her pelvis.... The impact of the crash left Frida naked and bloodied, but covered with gold dust." Her paintings depict her bodily experience, from anguish to sensuality. Kahlo said, "I never painted dreams, I painted my own reality." This visionary ability earned her a place among the surrealists.

Kahlo's prose delves into the associations between images and words, feelings and thought. Her writings shed welcome light on her active intelligence and provide an outline of the events of her life. This Abradale edition features plates reproducing the pages of the diary, and essays by Carlos Fuentes and Sarah Lowe that place it in the context of Mexican art, politics, and history. It is a magical work that adds to an understanding not only of Kahlo's work, but of her interior world as well.--Madeline Crowley ... Read more

Reviews (6)

If unique is what you seek
I was put off by this book for a few years before I got around to reading it because of the odd nature of Frida's drawings and doodlings, inks spillls morfing into "art" and in general the seemingly difficult text to follow. All this changed upon a recent trip to Mexico, amongst the tranquil backdrop of Mismaloya and unforgetable sunsets in this tropical paradise I was able to whip through this book. The serenity of the place helped me get through Frida's chaos. After reading her own insights and feelings about life I wanted more. Her bizarre life, filled with more theatre and characters than a Fellini film, more physical and mental agony than most humans can endure is one that deserves her own thoughts, although at times they are convoluted. Whether she was under the influence(many of her last years she was doped to mask the pain) or not is irrevelant because the text is spellbinding with illustrations that captivate the imagination, taking the reader along a surrealistic journey as only Frida can. It is a grotesquely beautiful book, rich in imagery , both literally as well as illustrated in the unique style of Frida Kahlo, reflective of the pain and suffering she lived, both self inflicted and her own fate. It is quite simply, Frida in her own words. The book is a handsome collection of thoughts and drawings by one of the greatest Latin American artists of the twentieth century. The author takes the liberty of interpreting each page, giving her perspective concerning the thoughts of Frida in a very helpful manner. The first part of the book is the diary, in writting and print and as colorful and bold as Frida was, whereas the second part is the type written text of the Frida's hallucianatory ramblings and drawings. This proves to a beneficail companion to reading each page, first by Frida followed by the clearer typed "translation" in thesecond part of the book. Without the type written text some sections are nearly impossible to decipher. The various sketches are shown in their embyonic stages and would later become part of her major works are truly amazing. If you are a lover of the works of Frida Kahlo this is a fine book to add to your collection of Kahlo memorabilia. This book is a perfect companion to Hayden Herrera's definitive biography. Incidently, my desire for more of Frida in her own words (this one is in Spanish mostly)was quenched recently by finding a book entitled "Escritura" by Frida Kahlo that is series of poems, letters and notes selected by Raquel Tibol. I highly suggest reading both if you are a Kahlophile.

Intimate and hallucinatory
This very intimate book accomplishes what no bio can: show us inside Kahlo, via her own ramblings and disorganization and odd illustartions and ink spills and lines, and drawings, etc. It is a weird highway to the inner mind of the goddess of 20th century art.

With a movie in the works ..., Kahlo is sure to solidify her position as the top-of-the-art-food-chain Latin American artist of the century (Georgia O'Keefe considered her the best female artist of the 20th century) and make her iconic face even more famous.

Kahlo deserves this position because she painted honestly and brutally. She painted her memorable Jewish-Austrian-Spanish-Mexican face, single eyebrow and slim moustache in stark honesty; she had many lovers of both sexes (when such a course of sex exploits was practically unknown); she grabbed her Mexicanity with a fierce pride and ferocity that would not be in vogue until decades after her death (Kahlo was born in 1907 and died in 1954) and yet during her life she was just the wife of a very famous Mexican muralist and a champagne Communist who partied with the Fords and Rockefellers while marching with the workers down the wide avenues of Mexico City. It is thus ironic that it is Kahlo, whose astonishing life and unique paintings are now the subject of lawsuits between governments and collectors, has taken the limelight from her talented womanizer husband and is rightfully considered one of the best artists of the 20th century, period. This is a nice addition and a must read for Kahlophiles.

Hallucinatory and lovely
This book gives an interesting view of the person who was Frida Kahlo, in her own very personal words and images. It is a bit sad that something so private has been made rather accessible, but it is good for lovers of Kahlo's art. The book is inspiring; it is quite creatively stimulating with the lush, free images and round scrawls in many colours. The introduction by Carlos Fuentes is well-written, and I especially liked his description of seeing Frida Kahlo at a Wagner opera. The essay by Sarah Lowe is likewise good. The reproductions of the diary pages look very good and clear (though since I haven't seen the originals, I'm just assuming they are accurate), the size of the pages is large enough, and the colours are all very vivid. The commentary is in a separate section from the diary reproduction, which is nice because you can look uninterrupted at the diary part, and not have to worry about what it all means. It does make for a lot of flipping back and forth when reading the commentary and referring back to the diary page, even though the page discussed is reproduced in black and white (very small) in the commentary. The commentary is rather sparse, and not all the pages of the diary are discussed. All in all a fascinating read.

A Must Own for Frida Junkies
This is not a book that you read, per se. If you are looking for a biography or autobiography of Kahlo and want to find out about her life and times - this is Not the book.

If you already have a lot of knowledge of Kahlo then this diary is a fantastic addition. It provides you with an insight into her mind, dreams and pain. The beautiful color reproduction of her actual drawing and writing is accompanied by a type-set explanation of her words.

No scholar of Frida Kahlo should be without this amazing, gorgeous portfolio. It is inspiring on many levels.

Graphically rich!
If you are expecting a standard diary, full of descriptions of what happened today, who visited for breakfast, and what Frida had for dinner - then don't order this book. Frida's diary is an amazing combination of text and paintings. She writes random comments with little consideration of form. In fact, many of the things she writes are random lists of words, or letters to loves that are never sent, or even descriptions of fantastic events that never occur outside of her imagination. It's like a huge and colorful experiment in free writing and unconscious expression. Combine these words with the sketches, paintings, and drawing scattered about - sometimes on pages of their own, sometimes in the midst of words that are written around the edges of the artwork - and you have an incredible and extremely unique diary. Personally, I found it inspiring to read and have incorporated many of the elements into my own journal. (If you are looking for a way to break out of writers block, or artists block, I would seriously consider getting a copy of this book and mimicking the technique. It's very freeing and has a way of generating ideas.) ... Read more

Book Description

Hailed by readers and critics across the country, this engrossing biography of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo reveals a woman of extreme magnetism and originality, an artist whose sensual vibrancy came straight from her own experiences: her childhood near Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution; a devastating accident at age eighteen that left her crippled and unable to bear children; her tempestuous marriage to muralist Diego Rivera and intermittent love affairs with men as diverse as Isamu Noguchi and Leon Trotsky; her association with the Communist Party; her absorption in Mexican folklore and culture; and her dramatic love of spectacle.

Here is the tumultuous life of an extraordinary twentieth-century woman -- with illustrations as rich and haunting as her legend.

Reviews (21)

The Best Book on Frida Kahlo
One cannot live in the modern world without regularly encountering self-portrait images of the beautiful and tragic Frida Kahlo. Whether on coffee mugs, t-shirts, posters, or Mexican artifacts, Frida's exquisite face with its darkly joined eyebrows and beribboned hair is immediately familiar to most observers, even if they do not know who she was. Yet Frida Kahlo's popularity in the twentieth century can be wholly attributed to her brilliance. Unlike the work of most modern artists, almost all of her 200 paintings depict realist, surrealist, and primitive self-portraits symbolizing the concerns and agonies of her life. Hayden Herrera's fine biography is still, seventeen years after its publication, the champion text on one of the most important, original, and phenomenal painters of our time.

Frida was born in 1910 (the year the Mexican Revolution began)to a Mexican mother and German father in the same cobalt blue house in Coyoacan, a suburb of Mexico City, where she later worked and shared her life with the great muralist Diego Rivera. Ironically, it is the house where her life also ended. Today it is a museum, open to the public and still festooned with her beautiful collections of retablos, pottery, and Mexican folk art. Frida's life was consumed by pain as a result of suffering polio at age 6 and a bus/trolley collision as a teenager when, thrown from the bus, she was gored by a steel rail. Frida spent most years of her life bedridden and in body casts (which she also painted)after some 30 surgeries meant to alleviate her suffering. Throughout her life,and even while prone in a bed with a mirrored canopy, she painted herself because of the focus created by chronic pain and said, "I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone." Her self-portraits suggest deep meanings as her face is always encircled with images derived from her physical and psychological life. The paintings are vibrant and, typical of many of her women contemporaries' works, tiny.

Hayden Herrera's book presents a comprehensive life study of the great artist, incorporating photographs, diaries, letters, painting reproductions, eye witness accounts, and local history and politics in the most readable, enjoyable, intelligent work available. An art historian, Ms. Herrera is thoroughly knowledgeable and writes beautifully, as well. One will be as engrossed by this book as by any great novel. Her work convincingly recreates the scenes from Frida's life and populates them with important contemporaries Frida knew and loved, including Andre Breton, Leon Trotsky, Tina Modotti, Pablo Picasso, and, of course, her own Diego Rivera who called her the greatest painter of our time.

There isn't a more engaging biography available about Frida Kahlo (in second place is Herrera's other text, Frida Kahlo:The Paintings), and one need not be an art student to be enthralled by this work. Ms. Herrera's compassionate, energetic account will capture anyone who wonders just what Frida Kahlo was like--her inspirations, occupations, and truly vivacious approach to her one very painful and amazingly productive life.

Thanks to this book, I discovered Frida!
It was thanks to this wonderful book that I discovered Frida Kahlo, who is now my heroine. I have read many books about her, but this is absolutely the best one. It made me laugh - and weep, too, because I could really feel Frida`s pain in my own body...
Today I am probably Sweden`s biggest Frida - fan, and I drive everybody crazy talking about her all the time! Thanks to her, I have started to paint and draw a lot, I dare to wear crazy clothes - and I dare to be my self.
Thank you, Hayden Herrera, for writing such a great book...

Complete and Complex Like Frida
Hayden Herrera has written an excellent portrait of the great artist Frida Kahlo, complete in thought and tender in describing a woman well lived.

Frida Kahlo is the ultimate survivor and represents women for their strength, tenderness, fierceness and suffering compassion. She lived during a time when women had few rights, especially Mexican women, she faced the dreadfulness of the Mexican Revolution in her early years, a bout with polio, a horrible bus accident that attempted to cripple her for life, an often unfaithful husband, criticism of her dreams, activism, accused Communism and many exciting adventures in life. She lived a true artistic life and her paintings represent the complicated nature of her inner soul. She loved hard and fought often, for her rights, her dreams and her man. While bed-ridden and suffering in the severest of agony she taught herself to paint, her body encased in a huge white cast, she painted to survive and reached the other end with a unique perspective on art. Her life and home were surrounded with color, a rainbow that never needed the promise of something golden at the end. She danced her own rhythm and never stopped walking her own path. This is a woman to be admired!

Herrera does an excellent job as the biographer of this phenomenally complicated woman. Her research is thorough and her suggestions entirely believable. You will be transported back in time into the life of a controversial woman who deserves every ounce of recognition that Herrera has given us.

A thorough rendering of an artist's life
This biography is a complete, engaging 440-page effort of sheer reportage. Herrera, an art historian and curator, has also written a book on Kahlo's art, and books on Mary Frank and Matisse, and you can see evidence of her thoroughness on every page. The book traces Kahlo's life by setting up the lives of her parents (her father was an Austrian immigrant to Mexico) all the way to her death and funeral with great detail. As Herrera follows the path of Kahlo's life, she includes letters to and from Kahlo, Kahlo's journal excerpts (illustrations, words and poems) and explicates Kahlo's art as it becomes relevant to the storyline of her life, either because paintings were done around the time of narrative points or because they illustrate incidents or themes in Kahlo's life. There are two color-plate sections and two black-and-white photo/painting sections to which the reader may refer.

Frida's life is certainly compelling, and Herrera doesn't need to resort to emotional language or hyperbole to make her interesting -- and, thankfully, she doesn't. The narrative is quite matter-of-fact, and illustrated with the subjects' own words, one feels that one can get to know Frida, and her husband, Diego Rivera, pretty well, for being somewhat removed from them (at least I feel that way living in the twenty-first century in Arkansas). The book incorporates the commonly known facts of Frida's life -- her devastating tram accident as a high-schooler in which she was impaled on a shaft of metal handrail, her turbulent and deep connection with and TWO subsequent marriages to Diego Rivera, her Mexicanista loyalties and sensibilities, her affair with Trotsky, her personal flamboyance and her great talent -- with the over-arching idea of Frida's alegría -- or happiness, joy -- in the face of her many hardships. As one of her friends said, Frida was a woman who "lived dying." Her many health problems and her problematic and sometimes painful relationship with Rivera were great obstacles to her, but her flamboyant alegría appears throughout her life as a constant, a will to enjoy, to overcome.

I think what the book offers most is Frida's personality, explicated as carefully and well as the paintings, and the effort helps inform the viewer's assessment and response to her work. Using Kahlo's own words often, Herrera allows Frida to tell us herself her reactions to incidents, events, her successes, her health problems.

She writes to her dear friend and medical adviser, Dr. Eloesser, in the United States when she is struggling with the decision to amputate her increasingly problematic foot: "My dearest Doctorcito: [The doctors] are driving me crazy and making me desperate. What should I do? It is as if I am being turned into an idiot and I am very tired of this f---ing foot and I would like to be painting and not worrying about so many problems. But, it can't be helped, I have to be miserable until the situation is resolved..."

This passage is emblematic of Kahlo, mixing her crass language with her charming endearments to her friends, her concern for her health and her resignation to the situation, "it can't be helped..." She often curses, refers to her reader as "kid" and to money as "dough," in English.

Herrera points out points at which Kahlo is not completely forthcoming with truthful details, for instance her age, the length of time she spent hospitalized at various stages, and her changing view on whether she was a Surrealist painter or not. She also illustrates Kahlo's changes in terms of the political situation of the international Communist party, her views about Trotsky, and her public vs. private comments on Diego's never-ending philandering.

In a book on Kahlo, these life details are relevant to her art because her art is confessional and personal. She's a "Sylvia Plath" of painting and mines her life and emotions for subjects until the end. Not long before she died, she had resolved her priorities, telling a friend, "I only want three things in life: to live with Diego, to continue painting, and to belong to the Communist party."

The people around her were deeply important to Frida Kahlo, and to the end of her life, she adored her friends, wrote winning and charming, caring notes to them, and wanted them around her at the end. Her love of others plays itself out in her political beliefs; she toured the world as an artist, but she drew her subjects and methods from Mexicanista traditions, and popular as well as pre-Columbian culture. Her personal illustrations are appealing because of that understanding of others, and Herrera's sound biography renders Kahlo's work and life even more poignant and remarkable. It's a good book. I recommend it.

(I do wish that this book had Frida Kahlo's own art or a photo of her on the cover, rather than a photo of Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo.)

Frida Kahlo is Alive and Well
The greatest compliment one could offer a biographer is that she has brought to life her subject with honesty and insight. Well, I offer this compliment to Hayden Herrera. It is supreme understatement for me to observe that the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, was a complex person filled with great contradictions. Yet, through liberal use of Frida's letters coupled with Herrera's own insightful analysis of her painting, "Frida" brings this great artist to life for us to bask in her brilliance, energy and strength. "Frida" is one of the most remarkable, illuminating and fulfilling biographies I have ever read. I highly recommend this magnificent book. ... Read more

Book Description

When Friday Kahlo died in 1954, she left behind a slender oeuvre. It consists of 143 paintings of small size, rarely larger than 20 x 30 inches, many of them now considered icons of 20th century art, most of them self-portraits. The reasons for this ostensible narcissism were closely bound up with Kahlo's biography, with the country and epoch in which she grew up, and with her decidedly eccentric character. It was no coincidence that the major enigmatic minds of the 16th century, namely Hieronymous Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, were among her favorite painters. For Frida Kahlo never displayed her wounds directly--be it the physical wounds caused by accidents and illness, or the psychological inner wounds. Hers is a subtly enciphered symbolic language, rich in metaphors drawn from almost all the world's cultures. Aztec myths of creation, Far Eastern and Classical Greek mythology, and popular Catholic beliefs all mingle in Kahlo's pictures with Mexican folklore and the stuff of quotidian life, with Marx and Freud. André Breton, one of her many admirers among the European avant-garde, once described Kahlo's art as a "colored ribbon round a bomb." Exotic and explosive, sensuous and fascinatingly vital in terms of artistic statement, Kahlo's paintings shed a complex and often frightening light on her soul, her "inner reality," as she called it. If the incessant commercial marketing of Kahlo's paintings over the past decade has obscured a clear view of her extraordinary oeuvre, this present monograph attempts to make amends. Frida Kahlo: The Painter and Her Work returns to the heart, to 42 select masterpieces, reproduced in full and in detail. The painterly quality, the beauty, and the immense wealth of details in Kahlo's paintings is laid out before the reader's eyes, as is the abyss in which the artist found herself.

I was considered a Surrealist. That is not right. I never painted dreams. What I depicted was my reality.--Frida Kahlo Essay by Helga Prignitz-Poda.

Slipcased, 11 x 13 in. / 280 pgs / 180 color. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Get the Spanish version
This edition is a pretty good overview of Frida's life with some outstanding colorful reproductions of her works. There is also a very satisfying collection of photographs, both in black and white and color, to cure the voyeur in you to see Frida as she really lived. For example, if you enlarge the back cover shot here you can see the cigarette in her left hand that she was apparently usually without. If you thought it was only the pain of her life that resulted in very few photographs of her smiling think again. The results of her heavy smoking habit produced a poor set of teeth that were blackened and not very flaterring; hence the rare smiling picture. The book has some rare photographs, including one of her laughing and her hideous teeth. The text is easy to follow and gives a whirlwind tour of Frida's life, complete with recollections by friends and other anecdotes. Included is a chronology, list of illustrations and a selected bibliography. My big complaint about this book, and it may you serve you if you are able to read Spanish, is that it is a short version of the original. I have run down a copy of the original Spanish book, "Frida: El Pincel de la Angustia" and it is highly recommended over this translated version. I cannot over state this recommendation . This version is almost like an abridged text by comparison. Case in point, the original has nearly four times as many pages! The abundance of pages is not filler either as it has many more photographs, paintings and more importantly, text. If you hunt around you can find the original at an affordable price. All in all this is a good addition, but not edition, to your library on Mexcian Art or personal Frida Kahlo book collection.

Great Introduction to Kahlo's work
This book is recommended for the reproductions of her work. Zamora gives a nice and thoughtful description of the painter's life. I just finished Kate Braverman's fictional account of the life of Kahlo on her last day--and I highly recommend it! The prose alone transforms Kahlo's paintings into a highly intelligent novel, and uses as a catalyst, one of our most important painter's work as an inspirational canvas for one of our most important writers.

excellent biography
I had no idea who Frida was, untill I saw some of her slides in my self portrait class and that led me to read more about her.

This book is an excellent biography of Frida and has an amazing account of her tragic life and how it transformed her personality, not to mention her paintings and especially her self portraits.

The book covers her major art work and the flow of the book is coincided with her life. You can see what was happening at a particular juncture in her life and what kind of work she was producing.

A Good Summary
This is a good book for those people who are interested in a short biography on one of Mexico's most respected and well known icons. Zamora's book not only gives a brief vivd account on Frida's life but also illustrates some of her famous work. The one down side I found to this book is that Zamora does not talk about in more detail some of Frida's paintings which are shown like "Four Inhabitants in Mexico City," but all in all this is a good book which I found very interesting.

Great book!
Frida Kahlo is my favorite artist, so of course I love this book. Other reasons I love it: the pictures, which show Frida's exquisite beauty, the paintings (not any I haven't seen, though I still love seeing them), and the story, which told some things I did not know. Although I really like this book, it was not very in-depth. I already knew most of the information that was in it. ... Read more

Book Description

In small, stunningly rendered self-portraits, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo painted herself cracked open, hemorrhaging during a miscarriage, anesthetized on a hospital gurney, and weeping beside her own extracted heart. Her works are so incendiary in emotion and subject matter that one art critic suggested the walls of an exhibition be covered with asbestos.

In this beautiful book, art historian Hayden Herrera brings together numerous paintings and sketches by the amazing Mexican artist, documenting each with explanatory text that probes the influences in Kahlo's life and their meaning for her work. Included among the illustrations are more than eighty full-color paintings, as well as dozens of black-and-white pictures and line illustrations. Among the famous and little-known works included in Frida Kahlo: The Paintings are The Two Fridas, Self-Portrait as a Tehuana, Without Hope, The Dream, The Little Deer, Diego and I, Henry Ford Hospital, My Birth, and My Nurse and I. Here, too, are documentary photographs of Frida Kahlo and her world that help to illuminate the various stages of her life.

Reviews (5)

The best Kahlo bio out there
This is easily, and without fluff, the best Frida Kahlo bio in print. Herrera not only has a great gift with wordds, but she truly gets within Kahlo's turbulent times, affairs and issues to paint a very descriptive world of this brilliant, tortured woman.

A beautiful, beautiful book
My children gave this book to me for Christmas as a companion to Frida's biography. It is beautiful and comprehensive. A must-have for any fan of her work.

Nice
This is a very nice combination of biographical information and art. A little of both keeps the book interesting. The quality is very good and I was a little surprised how nice the images were for the price.

A-MAZ-ING
This book is spectacular. I hardly knew of Frida until this book but it sparked such an intrest I couldn't put it down for a moment. I highly reccomend it.

Captivating
The book, as noted, focuses on her paintings and covers a wide spectrum of her work. I couldn't put it down. I was captivated by Frida's work, and the comments, stories and history added by the author were excellent - relevant, interesting and informative. I recommend it to anyone interested in this fascinating and unique paintor. ... Read more

Book Description

A vibrant series of prose poems celebrating the life of artist Frida Kahlo.

Beauty Is Convulsive is a biographical meditation on one of the twentieth century's most compelling and famous artists, Frida Kahlo (1907-1954). At the age of nineteen, Kahlo's life was transformed when the bus in which she was riding was hit by a trolley car. Pierced by a steel handrail and broken in many places, she entered a long period of convalescence during which she began to paint self-portraits. In 1928, at twenty-one, she joined the Communist Party and came to know Diego Rivera. The forty-one-year-old Rivera, Mexico's most famous painter, was impressed by the force of Kahlo's personality and by the authenticity of her art, and the two soon married. Though they were devoted to each other, intermittent affairs on both sides, Frida's grief over her inability to bear a child, and her frequent illnesses made the marriage tumultuous. This prose poem is typical Maso --vigorous, daring, always original. She brings together parts of Kahlo's biography, her letters, medical documents, and her diaries with language that is often as erotic and colorful as Kahlo's paintings. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Dancing with Frida
After having read Kahlo's diary she kept in her final days, Maso became inspired by not only Kahlo's art, but by her vision of the world, and has created in "Beauty Is Convulsive" a marvelous series of prose poems. Incorporating aspects of Kahlo's life into meditations on suffering and pain as art, these poems weave a tapestry of Kahlo's artistic mind, which was deeply affected by her physical ailments that persisted throughout her life. This is not a biography, but rather a side dish for readers enthralled by Kahlo's (or Maso's, for that matter) powerful art. Reaching back to the styles used in her previous book "Aureole", Carole Maso has written a fascinating, complex, and unique book celebrating a passionate artist.

Maso, Kahlo, and a cigarette
This work adds to Maso's reputation as one of the most significant writers today. As Maso has suggested in the past, why are less known artists ignored in media, at the expense of well-known writers. Hopefully, this smart, beautifully engaging, and funny text will introduce a new audience to two influential and important artists. ... Read more

Book Description

From 1926 until her death in 1954, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo created striking, often shocking, images that reflected her turbulent life. One of four daughters born to a Hungarian-Jewish father and a mother of Spanish and Mexican Indian descent, in the Mexico City suburb of Coyoacán, Kahlo did not originally plan to become an artist. During her convalescence from a bus accident in her late teens, Kahlo began to paint with oils. Her pictures, mostly self-portraits and still-lifes, were deliberately naive, filled with the bright colors and flattened forms of the Mexican folk art she loved. At 21, Kahlo fell in love with the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera; their stormy, passionate relationship survived infidelities, the pressures of Rivera's career, a divorce and remarriage, and Kahlo's poor health. The couple traveled to the United States and France, where Kahlo met luminaries from the worlds of art and politics. She had her first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City in 1938 and enjoyed considerable success during the 40s, but her reputation soared posthumously, beginning in the 80s with the publication of numerous books about her work by feminist art historians and others. In the last two decades an explosion of Kahlo-inspired films, plays, calendars, and jewelry has transformed the artist into a veritable cult figure.
Portraits of an Icon is not another book featuring Kahlo's beloved, tortured self-portraits. Rather, it offers another kind of portrait of the artist, a means of seeing her through the eyes of those who surrounded her: modern masters of the camera such as Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, and Martin Munkacsi; leading photojournalists such as Giselle Freund, Bernard Silberstein, and Fritz Henle; and Kahlo's relatives, lovers, and friends, among them Guillermo Kahlo, Nicolas Muray, and Lola Alvarez Bravo. The images span Kahlo's life, beginning with a photograph of a self-possessed chubby four-year-old, her fists full of wilting roses, and ending with the image of an emaciated, wasted figure laying on her deathbed, dressed in pre-Columbian finery. They follow the artist's trajectory from precocious child to famous artist, bringing into focus the painter, the paintings, the patient, the wife, the daughter, the lover, the friend. They permit a look into her bedroom, a seat at her table, a visit to her hospital room, a stroll through her garden, a view into her collections, and some play with her pets. While many of these images provide us with a unique opportunity to glimpse the woman behind the facade, others, though less revealing, are equally fascinating in allowing us to view one of the most intriguing of the artist's creations--the construction of a self-image as carefully crafted and conceived as any of her works of art. Frida through the lens of: Lola Alvarez Bravo, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Imogen Cunningham, Giselle Freund, Fritz Henle, Guillermo Kahlo, Martin Munkacsi, Nicolas Muray, Bernard Silberstein, and Edward Weston

Essay by Margaret Hooks.

Hardcover, 9.75 x 13 in., 152 pages, 59 Tritones illustrations ... Read more

Reviews (2)

This book is SO BEAUTIFUL!
The pictures are gorgeous and I liked Elena Ponitowskas essay in the book so much that I translated it into Swedish (my mother tongue), and now I'm illustrating it!

great pictures
ok, it's such a cliché, but frida kahlo herself is as fascinating as her art, and here are the pics to prove it. if it's out of pirnt, well, it's a good chance to take the trip to mexico and buy it, really worth it. ... Read more

Book Description

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a Mexican artist whose life was nearly as dramatic and fiery as her art. She endured a catastrophic set of physical calamities as a child and young woman, was an active member of the Communist Party, and survived a tempestuous marriage to the artist Diego Rivera. This book includes many photographs of her life alongside her extraordinary paintings, and presents commentary by leading Mexican art historians, stunning reproductions of her most seminal works-some never before reproduced, and nine gatefolds allowing the reader to examine in detail aspects of her larger works. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

a tasteful gift box
This sturdy box makes a lovely gift, and one that will be useful long after the blank note cards have been used. It contains 10 cards that consist of 5 designs: 2 are paintings, one a self-portrait in bright colors with birds on her shoulders, and "Two Nudes in the Jungle", in earth tones. 3 are photographs; a portrait of her at age 24, another is the color photo that graces the box cover, and the third a marvelous black and white study of Frida with Diego Rivera, and this is the only card that is not repeated in the enclosed booklet. The envelopes are also nice and come in terra-cotta and deep yellow, and the cards are tied with a ribbon and a little milagro (amulet) of a hand.

There is a pocket on the inside of the box cover, that holds a 48 page booklet, which is interesting for its small size; it is filled with photographs, a handful of paintings and sketches, along with some words from her diary, and a short but concise biography.
This makes an excellent gift for a Frida Kahlo fan, or any art lover who likes to write notes.

A woman of courage and strength...
This has been a staple gift that I always keep in my mind when trying to get a present for a woman of courage and strength. It's an elegant box of cards/book that I discovered in the 1990's and my box (now devoid of the cards) has served as a safety box for important things.

A great gift for an art "aficionado"
This makes a very nice gift for the art lover who has everything. The presentation is exquisite and captures the very essence of Frida Kalho. Inside the book-shaped box, one will find an excellent booklet retracing her life,somewhat in the style of her journal, with lots of collage-like effects. The ratio of text to image is oustanding. Along with the booklet is a set of stationery featuring pictures of Frida Kalho and reproductions of some of her paintings tied with a ribon, holding a "milagro" or Mexican charm. This last detail, along with the red and gold Mexican folk border around the box really spell out care, quality and a will to depict as accurately as possible the profile of one of the most intriguing artists of the century.

Extremely pleased with this purchase of concise history .
This is a concise history of Frida Kahlo and her life. You can put her intriguing artwork along side of her life stories. Very good bargin. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

BEAUTIFUL SELF PORTRAITS OF AN AMAZING WOMAN!
These card's are exquisite and I intend to frame them in a grouping on the wall. This is truly an amazing woman, the life and time's of which would make an interesting film.

Frida Kahlo lived in the times of great upheaval in Mexico. And went thru much pain and suffering, due to illness and a tragic accident. I am readin one of her biography's written by Haden Herrera, and it is great, in that is is based on letter's she wrote to her school chum and boyfriend. ciao yaaah 69

The Life of Frida!
The most wonderful person ever, her life storyhas to be the most inspiring one to any young girls who would like to change their path and get on the right direction to a bright and happy life. I would recommend this book to any one and we all can learn from her struggle life and look at our own. ... Read more

Book Description

Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) is one of the most important 20th-century painters and one of the few Latin American artists to have achieved a global reputation. In the vibrant colors of her native Mexico, she expressed the burdens that weighed upon her soul. Full-color reproductions and thorough text provide a quick yet solid introduction to this master. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

The Life of a Genius Painter In One Book
"Frida Kahlo 1907-1954: Pain And Passion" travels through her life and turbulances through her many paintings she drew throughout her life. This book is more than just her paintings. The auther shares the story of the inspiration of her every paintings. She shares everything in great detail that is highly accurate to Kahlo's living. Every page shows how Kahlo has inspired a generation of artists ranging beyond painting. It's great that the author wrote this book since many are unaware of Kahlo's work. Her words keep Kahlo's art and her life alive. This book is great for those looking to get inspired and to learn about this genius painter. Those wanting more should also watch the movie "Frida", starring Selma Hayak as Frida Kahlo.

Order this book if you understand Spanish.
This is a beautiful book but unfortunately I can't read it because it is printed in Spanish. Amazon had informed me that the English version is not available so I am returning it.

An introduction to Frida
The ambitious Taschen art series excels at giving an artists works in a nutshell, covering the biography of the artist as well as it's best known works. Following the succcesful formula that has brought you more than fifty artists, from Boteticelli to Andy Warhol, this book on Frida Kahlo is a basic primer. This is the perfect book for someone to learn a little something about the Mexican artist and popular icon of the familiar soaring bird eyebrows . The short biography covers the major events of her tumultous life and graphically displays her most well known works accompanied by some black and white photographs of her with husband Diego Rivera and other notables from her era. The organization and brevity of the book make for the basic cliff notes on Frida. Compiled and researched well the result is a tasteful book for the basics. The perfect book for the casual observer to find out if more information is needed to be learned about this fantastic Mexican artist. It is satisfying but if more detailed insight is needed I would recommend two other books. One is the book the editor relies upon heavily by Hayden Herrera which is the defintive book about Frida Kahlo entitled "Frida A Biography of Frida Kahlo." The other I would recommend for further exploration is by Martha Zamorra entitled Frida Kahlo: The Brush of Anguish." Zamorra's hard to find Spanish edition is superb and much better than the edited English version. Nonetheless, the Tashen version is a good quality book full of vibrant color on good paper printed in Germany on stock that will last many years. Recommended for the art student or anyone interested in this most tormented soul who left her mark in art for the world to enjoy.

Profusely illustrated and historically rich
This beautiful Taschen volume by Andre Kettenmann takes the reader through the tormented life of this famous Mexican painter, just as famous for her own artwork as for being the wife of Mexican artist, Diego Rivera. Her works, from the surrealist to the more naif, all of them sexually charged and driven by her life's tragedys and happy moments, are discussed along with the times of her life when she painted them, allowing everyone to take a peek into Frida's soul some 50+ years after her departure from this planet.

An excellent "basic".
Benedikt Taschen succeeded in producing a concise yet highly informative biography, which is an excellent departure point for people discovering Frida Kahlo's universe. Art and Spanish students alike will enjoy all the references to other written works, which will make their research easier. Let's not forget an excellent choice of pictures which supplement the photographic reproductions of the artist's work.The commentaries are equally useful. This book is an excellent basic to have in your bookcase and a great introduction to Frida Kahlo. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Frida Kahlo's stormy relationship with fellow artist Diego Rivera and how it affected her work is the subject of this fascinating study.Generously illustrated with works by both artists as well as contemporary photographs, this volume sheds new light on the life and imagery of one of the twentieth century's greatest women artists. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Errors, Typos - Poor quality - Photo selection good.
I'm baffled that a book can be published with so many typos and gross errors. Frida's name is even misspelled "Kahalo" in one place. It states her tragic accident happened on "17 December 1925" which it did not (it was September) and it says this twice. On the very next page it shows her diary entries discussing her pain from the injuries, the entries are dated October 1925 and on. I mean it's really distracting and totally unacceptable. Sentences were incomplete and you are left rereading and looking for the rest of the statement. Some of the sentences just didn't make any sense. I ended up reading with a pencil in hand to make corrections. As for the actual bio info, I agree it's interesting, but Frida and Diego were unquestionably fascinating people even in poorly written text. Thankfully I checked this out from our public library. I would NOT recommend this book to anyone. Get another bio from a different publisher. One that is reputable, responsible and does good work. I give it two stars for photo selection.

Does Life imitate Art?
This book provides better than average insight into lives of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. While people are now eagerly awaiting the Fall 2002 Selma Hayek movie on Frida, this book does provide some background into the world of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. If you are unfamilar with these artists this book would be a good place to start.

Not the best, Not the worst
The photographs include some not seen in the many other books on Kahlo, which is the primary strength of this book. However, it seems that some of the facts are drawn from the March biography of Rivera - which is at best questionable - and at worst Rivera's mythical reinterpretation of his own life. The unusual grammar and typographical errors are somewhat distracting at times. Overall, however, it provides a nice overview of the important points in the Kahlo-Rivera relationship. ... Read more

Book Description

The first full-length feminist analysis of Frida Kahlo and the myths surrounding her. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Frida analysis
A fascinating perspective and interpretation of some of Frida Kahlo's most famous paintings awaits the reader who has patience. I say patience because the book can be a bit overwhelming with more references than a university thesis. Each page is full of other authors opinions and quotes who author Margaret A. Lindauer does a marvelous job of threading together. She has an agenda in her writing so you will have to follow her arguments. She does a good job of taking a different approach on occacions from such notable Frida biographers as Martha Zamorra and Hayden Herrera, as well some other more obscure contributors. At other times she utilizes their writings to illustrate her points. So what are her points? As Lindauer states, "her investigation has not been directed toward determining "correct" interpretations. Rather I am interested in the consequences of inscribing particular idealogies within distinctinterpretive methodologies, and in consciously selecting theoretical approaches according to the ways in which they revererate with ongoing political negotiations." The reason I quoted such a long passage, actually a sentence and a few words, is because this gives you a flavor for the writing. This style may not be for everyone. Written like a college textbook there are plenty of juxtapostions, binary relationships, patriarchal presciptions, masculinist discourses, dichotomies and paradigmatic feminie qualities to make sure you keep the dictionary close by. These are some of the more common and easier terms used as she really bogs down the discourse with her use of language. I consider myself to have a good vocabulary but found myself seeing words I have never encountered before. Since the rather dense style demands so much attention it is also a book that is best read without distractions. Linduaer reexamines Kahlo and Rivera's relationship, Kahlo's physical and emotional being and the concept of women being sickly, th surrealist movement as prescibed by men, Kahlo's use of Tehuana dress in political terms and eventualy the cult of Fridamania that was so pervasive in the 90's and continues to this day. So is it a good Frida book? Yes and no, no if this where you are beginning your study of Frida Kahlo and yes if you have read most books available and are still "Devouring Frida." All in all it is an interesting examination of Frida but one that will have you scratching your head at times wondering what the heck did she just say. By the same token it is a book that sparks the thought process and lets you know just how esoteric art history can be. Recommended for Fridacoholics only.

THE frida source
I purchased this book on Frida because I was intersted in learning more about her life/works. After researching several books about Frida, I can clearly state that this is the most detailed book about her works. Whether you have a fascination for Frida Kahlo or you are an art historian wanting to learn more about her exteremly unique paintings, you should buy this book. However, the paintings of Frida are relatively small and are black and white. If you are serious about learning more about Frida I would recommend getting a hold of Frida book that shows her paintings in detail (perhaps The Brush of Anguish by Martha Zamora). ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An insight into Frida's world
The life of Frida Kahlo, one of the world's greatest women artists, is excellently portrayed in this book. Rauda Jamis manages to give us a unique insight of the pain, anguish and passion that fill the world of Frida. From her birth to her death, the book captures us and invites us to travel with Frida, as we identify ourselves more and more as we read, with this fascinating woman. ... Read more