Frida Kahlo 1907-1954

by Gary Souter

Behind Frida Kahlo’s portraits, lies the story of her life – a body of work drawn from cries of anger and fury, blended into a potent and artistically exceptional combination. At six years of age, she suffered a bout of polio, and she was just 18 when a terrible bus accident changed her life forever, leaving her handicapped and burdened with constant physical pain. But her explosive character, raw determination, and hard work helped to shape her artistic talent. Kahlo managed to forge a place for herself in the macho society of Mexico, despite the double handicap of her crushed body and her sex. Frida Kahlo’s work plays an important part in the artistic heritage of Mexico, her native country, with both its novelty and its multi-cultural values. The story and the paintings that Frida created provide a rare and courageous account of a woman on a voyage of constant self-discovery. This book offers a valuable overview of her work in a convenient format, making it the perfect gift.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, School

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[leynes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frida Kahlo (1907-1965) war eine mexikanische Malerin, die zu den bedeutendsten Vertreter*innen einer volkstümlichen Entfaltung des Surrealismus gehört. Neben Vincent van Gogh und Claude Monet zählt sie wohl zu den gängigsten/most mainstream artists who withstood the test of time. Ich bin absolut keine Kunst-Maus, aber, wie gefühlt jede andere Person, fasziniert mich Frida Kahlo sowohl als Persönlichkeit als auch als Künstlerin. Ihre Werke wirken so anders, teils skurril/bizarr, und auch als Lai*in hat man das Gefühl, super viel in ihr Werk hineininterpretieren zu können.

Ich las bisher nur ganz wenig über Kahlo, primär eine eher missglückte graphische Adaptation ihres Lebens von María Hesse und ein paar Fetzen ihres Wikipediaartikels. Daher weiß ich zwar um ihren Unfall, ihre Krankheit, ihre schwierige/toxische Beziehung zu ihrem (Ex-)Ehemann Diego Rivera (inkl. beidseitiger Untreue) und ihr politisches Engagement, bin aber trotzdem nur oberflächlich mit ihrem Schaffen vertraut. Als ich dieses kleine Hardcover im Bücherschrank fand, musste ich es einfach mitnehmen, weil es so viele von ihren Bildern enthält. Der biographische Begleittext war atrocious (also literally unlesbar und sicher nicht von einem echten Menschen aus dem Englischen übersetzt worden – es wird auch niemand mit der Übersetzung gecreditet...), aber für die Bilder allein hat es sich gelohnt.

Ich finde es super spannend, dass Frida so viele Selbstporträts gemalt hat. Unter ihren 143 Bildern sind 55 Selbstbildnisse. Auf diesen (wie auch auf echten Fotos von ihr, die in diesem Buch abgedruckt sind) strahlt sie eine gewisse Strenge aus – wie ich finde. Generell finde ich ihren Blick, ihr Auftreten, ihre Wahl der Darstellungsform einfach nur faszinierend! Ihre Bildnisse sind fast wie ein Tagebuch, sie geben einen (vermeintlichen) Blick in ihr Innenleben und sind unheimlich intim. Ich finde es super stark, wie vulnerable sich Frida durch ihre Kunst zeigt.

Meine Lieblingsbilder (aus diesem Band): "Selbstporträt, Leo Trotzki gewidmet oder Zwischen den Vorhängen", "Selbstportät mit Halskette", "Selbstportät mit Affe", "Selbstporträt (Marte R. Gomez gewidmet" (hier handelt es sich um eine Zeichnung mit Bleistift auf Papier) und "Selbstporträt" (1948, wo sie einen weißen Kranz (?) um dem Kopf trägt).

Auch wenn ich dieses Buch aufgrund seiner scheußlichen Übersetzung nicht empfehlen kann, kann ich es nur empfehlen, sich mit Frida Kahlo auseinanderzusetzen und eventuell sogar einen ihrer Bildbände zu kaufen. Ein bisschen Frida bereichert so ein Bücherregal ungemein.

[Tuna Turan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kendi gerçeğimin resmini yapıyorum. Tek bildiğim, buna mecbur olduğum için resim yaptığım; aklımdan geçeni hiç düşünüp taşınmadan resmediyorum diyen bir kadın Frida Kahlo.

Günümüz toplumunda en son noktasına kadar sömürülen ama hakkında çoğu insanın çok az bilgi sahibi olduğunu kadının sıra dışı hayatından bölümler ve yaptığı eserler hakkında bilgiler bulunan bir başucu kitabı.

Henüz daha çocukken geçirdiği çocuk felci sağ bacağını sakat bırakır. Bunun üzerinde dokuz yıl sonra geçirdiği bir trafik kazası sonucunda vücudundaki kırıklar ve yaralar yüzünden yatağa bağlı kalır ve resim yapmaya başlar. Yaptığı resimler aslında onun sağ kalma mücadelesidir. Büyük aşkı Diego’nun defalarca onu aldatmasına göz yumması bunun üzerine evlenip boşanıp tekrar evlenmeleri, sayısız ameliyatlar, ağrılar, acılar arasında tutunduğu tek şey resim yapmak olmuş. Eserlerinin hepsinde Diego’nun azalan sevgisi ve kız kardeşi ile aldatışı Frida’nın tuvalinden ve fırçalarından asla eksik olmamış.

Kendi yazdığı otobiyografisine de son sözleri şöyle olmuş; Resim yapmak hayatımı tamamladı. Üç çocuk ve korkunç hayatımı doldurmuş olabilecek bir sürü şey kaybettim. Resmim bunların hepsinin yerine geçti. Bence çalışmak en güzel şey.

İnanılmaz bir yaşam. Mutlaka okunmalı ve eserleri incelenmeli.

[jo-booksy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jag läste Läsförlagets översättning (utgiven av Sirrocco UK, 2005) som kom ut 2006. Bra sammanfattning av Frida Kahlos liv och gärning (bortsett från slarviga stavfel). Hade önskat en annan struktur med tydligare hänvisning till målningar som nämns i texten. Rekommenderas!

[Chaimaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his autobiography, he admitted, “…Too late now, I realised that the most wonderful part of my life had been my love for Frida.” Diego Rivera died in Mexico City in 1957.
In her 1953 autobiography, Frida wrote : Painting completed my life. I lost three children and a series of other things that would have fulfilled my horrible life. My painting took the place of all of this. I think work is the best
Kahlo🎨❤

[Kristy McKain · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who shies away from biographies, this was a great read. Very factual and chronological, but such a wild life made it a page turner. Great historical context on the mid 1900s, rise of communism, and tidbits about Diego Rivera. I loved the background to specific works that we could see throughout the book. Highly recommend!

[Cavanşir Gadimov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frida Kahlo popüler kültür ikonlarından biridir. Ancak yaşamını ve eserlerini pek bilmezdim. Bu kitap özellikle yaşamını öğrenmem açısından faydalı oldu. Çektiği acılar, evliliği ve ilişkileri olmak üzere çok alışılmışın dışından bir yaşamı olan ve sürrealist resimleri ile de dikkat çeken bir ressam ve kadın.
Ayrıntılar: http://kitapokurum.blogspot.com/2018/...

[Kim Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a Kahlo fan. Her life was difficult, and she was able to express it beautifully in her art. Short read. Beautiful artwork. Tragic life. Probably keeping this one. 📚 🎨

[Ania🐰📚🍄🐛 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a basic understand of the life of FK but I wanted to expand on it and get better insight into her private life and art. I am fascinated by her as a person and an artist.

I was looking to prepare myself for The Brooklyn Museum’s upcoming “largest U.S. exhibition in ten years devoted to the iconic painter.” This Frida Kahlo exhibit will include her art and personal effects.

Now to the review. The biography was somewhat lacking and I was still left with many questions. The book needed a basic structure. Frida Kahlo’s paintings and personal letters were scattered about within the biography and lacked any order. One minute I would be reading one of her letters but it was regarding evens that I read about 15 pages ago. Same with her paintings. I would see one of her paintings but I would have it somewhat explained 9 pages later in the bio. This lack of structure happens through the whole book.
I found this really frustrating hence my negative review.

[Elidey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le doy la calificación que la estructura del libro merece. Las pinturas deberían ordenarse como se mencionan, porque si no el libro se siente como un collage de todo lo que el autor investigó pero no ordenó.

Ahora en cuanto a Frida, después de leer esto creo que hubiéramos sido buenas amigas (o algo más) aún así me rompe el corazón como una persona es capaz de crear a partir del dolor.

El mercado ha creado un personaje de Frida que no es ella, y seguramente ella hubiera odiado y repudiado todo lo que se ha hecho con su legado los últimos 30 años. Pero creo que eso lo hablaremos en el otro mundo.

Ella transmite en cada una de sus cartas su peculiar personalidad, sus depresiones, sus amoríos, pero uno de sus amores más grandes; México.

[Pearl (Plamena Krumova) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love Kahlo's art it's a must have - a collection of her artwork.

[Flo Gourmel · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was great to read more about Frida. However, I’ve read the Romanian version of the book and I was really disappointed by the quality of the translations: a lot of inaccuracies and a lot of things that did not sound natural at all. It was a torture.

Also, I would have wished that the paragraph on one page would have been talking about the picture on the same page. At some point I was reading about one the painting that was almost 50 pages ago, and I had to look back in the book all the time. So the lack of structure was also frustrating, and I’m afraid that is not connected to me reading the Romanian edition.

[Nicole Perez · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was poorly organized- paintings weren’t anywhere near the paragraphs that described them, entire chapters divided by the placement of letters from Frida, and then the letters were quoted verbatim later in the book. It was also poorly written, to the point where it came across as a bad translation of a book written in another language. And, quite insultingly, the book ended not with a dedication to Frida and her genius, but with a dedication Frida wrote about Diego Rivera! Why conclude a book about such an amazing woman with a dedication to the man who cheated on her and added so much pain to her life?

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sad and lonely life. I just pulled this off the library shelf one day as I was looking for books with pictures since reading is a challenge. it is a short book but took me a while to get through. I gave it 4 stars primarily for the type of book it is. The story is the biography of the artist with a painting of hers on each page. If this was a style of all books about artists I would know a lot more about them.

[Francisco Camarena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biografía interesante y entretenida sobre la vida de Frida Kahlo.
Lo único que realmente no me gustó fue que el escritor describiera ciertos cuadros pintados por Frida y que enseguida colocara imágenes de pinturas que nada tenían que ver con la descripción dada anteriormente (aunque esas imágenes si estuvieran en el libro, decenas de páginas después).

[Marnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. I knew more of her history than the book had to offer, so I was left wanting more. She was an amazing woman and I don't believe most people know that. I only gave three stars because of lack of content.

[Ingrid Parada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frida Kahlo fue una destacada pintora mexicana conocida por sus obras surrealistas y su estilo único. Es especialmente reconocida por sus autorretratos, que exploran su vida, su sufrimiento físico y emocional, así como su identidad cultural.

[Zoila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great introduction to Frida's works and the book did a good job on having people look about a specific paintings other than the most famous ones.

[Rebecca Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise starting point for info about an artist I knew nothing of.

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting.

[Sascha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book left me in tears when I finished it. What an extraordinary woman Frida Kahlo was. What a future she had ahead of her; I couldn’t help but wonder how she would have turned out if she didn’t experience the accident. Would her art be just as striking? All I know for sure is that my respect for this incredibly ingenious woman has grown more and more. When you keep the backstory in mind, the paintings reveal a much deeper meaning. Wow.

[Clarissa Simmens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book 5 stars because it fulfilled all my requirements: affordable price, Kahlo's artwork and a minimalist biography that showed compassion for the artist. I have read wordier library biographies with large pictures but this is a perfect edition to keep inside my Kindle along with the complete works of Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf and my own modest literary contributions!

[Andrea Q. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reaffirmed my total admiration and respect for this woman.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Souter paints a timeline picture of Frida's life as depicted in her paintings, and does it well.

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to look up Frida for my thesis, and I ended up enjoying her paintings. Hope she becomes my new art hero. :)

[Yesenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuando vi que era un compendio de obras de Frida, por alguna razón pensé que sería una interpretación de cada pintura, pero en realidad es su biografía, pero siento que le falto algo.

[Kun Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good collection of Frida' work just for reference. I like the precise choice of words that articulates Both her masterpieces and her chaotic lifestyle.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book! The paintings depict a cleat timeline of Frida life....Colorful and detailed :)
Sidenote: Read the french version published by LAROUSSE

[Tarlan A. Latif · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a amazing book!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw her exhibit at the art museum in Fort Lauderdale. Wish I would have read this first. She's interesting to me so I will read her actual diary next...and see if I can find the movie.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an excellent recompilation of her art work, next to a clear biography.