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Frida Kahlo: A Modern Master
Examines the life and career of the posthumously famous artist who spent most of her career overshadowed by the work of her husband Diego Rivera.
- GenresArt
128 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1997
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March 15, 2018
Beautiful book with oh so many dazzling paintings by Friday Kahlo with other Mexican artists, such as Diego Riviera or José Guadalupe Posada, interspersed in between. Naturally, it’s centered around her life but the narrative is punctuated by important Mexican events and cultural influences that had a bearing on her life.
From the horrible accident where the pain ubiquitous in the rest of her life originated—her foot mutilated, spinal column shattered—through the heartbreaking infidelities of her beloved Diego Riviera who had a roving eye, it sheds light on Kahlo’s often agonising sources of inspiration. It explains the symbolism and the often palpable pain you feel when studying her works.
I noted down the following paintings: The Chick, The Love Embrace, Without Hope, The Broken Column (this hurts to even look at), Flower of Life (unreasonably erotic), The Totonas Civilisation, The Flower Basket, Jacques Lipschitz (Portrait of a young…), Calavera Huertista, Fantasia, Very Ugly, The Circle.
As a side note: I have never pondered where the remarkably unique cult of death in Mexico comes from but it seems to be universally ascribed to the fusion of Mayan and Catholic influences. It is this amalgam, so carefully constructed by the Spanish to quell—or at least assuage—the protests of the civilisation being subdued, that gave rise to the Day of the Dead and other traditions exclusive to Mexico. What other country can boast that ”… families visit cemeteries and hold picnics on the graves of their ancestors.”?
From the horrible accident where the pain ubiquitous in the rest of her life originated—her foot mutilated, spinal column shattered—through the heartbreaking infidelities of her beloved Diego Riviera who had a roving eye, it sheds light on Kahlo’s often agonising sources of inspiration. It explains the symbolism and the often palpable pain you feel when studying her works.
I noted down the following paintings: The Chick, The Love Embrace, Without Hope, The Broken Column (this hurts to even look at), Flower of Life (unreasonably erotic), The Totonas Civilisation, The Flower Basket, Jacques Lipschitz (Portrait of a young…), Calavera Huertista, Fantasia, Very Ugly, The Circle.
As a side note: I have never pondered where the remarkably unique cult of death in Mexico comes from but it seems to be universally ascribed to the fusion of Mayan and Catholic influences. It is this amalgam, so carefully constructed by the Spanish to quell—or at least assuage—the protests of the civilisation being subdued, that gave rise to the Day of the Dead and other traditions exclusive to Mexico. What other country can boast that ”… families visit cemeteries and hold picnics on the graves of their ancestors.”?
Displaying 1 of 1 review