Frida Kahlo: The Painter And Her Work

by Helga Prignitz-Poda, Frida Kahlo

When Frida 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 Hieronymus 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. Andr 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 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.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography

280 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 2003

Reviews

[Zainab Moazzam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The peculiarities of aesthetic thinking!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've seen some of her work in the past, this is a broad selection of her works combined with a biography. She had a tough life, with a childhood accident that led to an early death. Much of her work is dark and terrifying with bits that reminds me of Hieronymus Bosch. She showcased traditional Mexican culture as opposed to the European norms. The self portraits often have a sexual ambiguity about them and she is considered an early feminist and LGBT artist.

An interesting read combined with a large sized, full color reproductions of Kahlo's art.

[Tamia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful representation of her works. Slightly biased but may be to lack of consistent information from Frida.

[翰林院编修 · Rating 4 out of 5]

无。 Frida Kahlo
9.1 (15人评价) Helga Prignitz-Poda / Schirmer/Mosel / 2004

[Nday Nday · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took 44 days for me to finally finish this 4th book about Frida Kahlo I have ever read. It's very reach with responsible observations and very cleaver that sometimes I need to pause and think and put it down for days to be fully understand lol.. But so far it's the most detail account of Frida paintings in the book about Frida Kahlo I have. Still, this book isn't providing complete analysis on all Frida's paintings. The writers only observe some of her remarkable creations, not all, which make this book look like unfinished book. This can be good book to get for all those Frida admirer out there.

[Karen Armbruster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frida was such a passionate and wonderfully artist.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The unibrow… What more do you need to know?