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Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo
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 bea...more
Paperback, 528 pages
Published
October 1st 2002
by Harper Perennial
(first published 1983)
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This is not an accurate portrayal of Frida's life. She was more of a revolutionary than this book makes her out to be. She was also a gender-bending feminist, and a brilliant painter. Herrera makes her out to be a Diego obsessed, pain obsessed sack of potatoes, and i'm not buying it. Herrera also infers several things to be true from Frida's paintings. She frequently ignores literal translations from paintings including text painted in that reveals the meaning completely on it's own.
I am very s...more
I am very s...more
Have not read this book- I have no reason not think it is good. Just wanted to comment on the cover.
I always hate buying an edition of a book with movie art on the front. Nothing ruins a copy of a Lord of the Rings book like stills from the films on the cover. Carrying that around just makes you look like such a joiner. I know-- it is big money marketing, and there is no stopping it.
But I gotta say, with an artist like Frida Kahlo, who painted so many incredible self protraits, it is just so lam...more
I always hate buying an edition of a book with movie art on the front. Nothing ruins a copy of a Lord of the Rings book like stills from the films on the cover. Carrying that around just makes you look like such a joiner. I know-- it is big money marketing, and there is no stopping it.
But I gotta say, with an artist like Frida Kahlo, who painted so many incredible self protraits, it is just so lam...more
Most of us know about the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and how she suffered. Her suffering is unimaginable. The book begins with the details of her bout with polio and then her accident, when the bus she was riding in, in Mexico City, was hit by a tram. September 17, 1925. Her letters to her boyfriend, Alejandro Gómez Arias, are excruciating to read. He attempts to escape (her); she hangs on with an unrelenting fervor. Letter after letter are included in this book. (Stricter editing please!) Her...more
Oct 18, 2008
Lisa Vegan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Kahlo fans, those interested in art and art history
I’d never enjoyed Frida Kahlo’s painting style until I saw the movie Frida. Then, I could see how her artwork reflected her life and I was able to appreciate all of her art, even though it’s not all easy to view. Her life was so incredibly full of pain and her art shows it, but I find it admirable that she was able to create the art at all. I looked forward to this art exhibition.
This is an excellent book that’s the exhibition catalog, and unlike some exhibition catalogs it is comprehensive. In...more
This is an excellent book that’s the exhibition catalog, and unlike some exhibition catalogs it is comprehensive. In...more
Life is suffering for the vast majority of people. And for the rest, it's suffering too. There's no denying that. What's remarkable about this woman, if at all, is she found release in art. The book begins with an account of Frida's tragic accident, followed by page after page of excruciating detail on the pain from Polio, her "failed?" marriage and marital woes, ad nauseum. It's easy to dismiss this book as depressing, but I see it differently. That in the darkest of hours, solace can be found...more
Mar 15, 2012
Diann Blakely
added it
Whether or not you saw FRIDA, Julie Taymor’s recent biopic about the late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, reading about the artist’s color-saturated world can provide a spectacular antidote to the gray weeks of winter. The best introduction remains Hayden Herrera’s learned, thoroughly enjoyable biography Frida, which served as the basis for the film. Herrera’s study is particularly valuable in its extensive, down-to-earth commentary on Kahlo’s paintings. To many new viewers, her self-portraits seem...more
_Frida_ by Hayden Herrera ((first published 1983)
Added 4/4/12.
I did not read the book but on 4/4/12 I watched the movie via a Netflix DVD. The movie was excellent. Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina were mesmerizing together, playing artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The beautiful music won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score, in 2003.
"Frida" (2002)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120679/
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/Frida...
"A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippl...more
Added 4/4/12.
I did not read the book but on 4/4/12 I watched the movie via a Netflix DVD. The movie was excellent. Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina were mesmerizing together, playing artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The beautiful music won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score, in 2003.
"Frida" (2002)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120679/
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/Frida...
"A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippl...more
Oct 28, 2009
Tifnie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in art and Frida Kahlo
Shelves:
biography
This was a fascinating book. I felt, while reading this book, I also got an art history lesson. I remember Frida Kahlo's art as being dark, vulgar, and somewhat childish, but I didn't really know the history behind the paintings and that of Frida's life story.
From a young age, Frida Kahlo was outgoing, outspoken, and a prankster. She lived life to the fullest and often got into trouble. Unfortunately, a horrific accident at age 18 changed the course of her life. Her paintings are mostly self por...more
From a young age, Frida Kahlo was outgoing, outspoken, and a prankster. She lived life to the fullest and often got into trouble. Unfortunately, a horrific accident at age 18 changed the course of her life. Her paintings are mostly self por...more
An excellent biography: why did any more need to be written?? And I must make clear that I read this book in the D.F. in the 80's after seeing her home in Coyoacan, long before the Frida craze began...Yes, I was ahead of the curve! Yes I am a trendsetter! No I'm not a sheep! seriously, Kahlo is a great artist and I hate how commodified her life and her work have become. Some great artists have as their subject the self, and the self is as rich and vast a canvas as any.
Frida Kahlo isn't my absolute favorite painter in terms of style, but that's more a matter of taste than anything else. She is without doubt a highly influential, groundbreaking artist, particularly within the field of women-as-subject. "Frida", however, is not so much a book about Kahlo's works as it is about her life. Which it should be, what with the fact that it's a biography and all.
Herrera constructs a detailed, engaging biography that examines the major events of Frida's life--and in part...more
Herrera constructs a detailed, engaging biography that examines the major events of Frida's life--and in part...more
This is the best damn biography I've ever read. Now, I usually avoid biographies like the plague, but this book is genuinely brilliant - if you have even a smattering of interest in Mexican history, the Communist movement, Surrealism, pain, anguish, women with fucking guts, tequila, sex, drunk parrots, dirty words in Spanish, color, paints; etc; etc; then pick it up and read a chapter or read it religiously cover to cover once a year like I do.
Thirty years old, but this is still a very compelling book -- I read it in two days.
Frida Kahlo’s powerful will to live despite terrible health problems is shown vividly; her paintings are given detailed and sympathetic readings. Her roller-coaster marriage to Diego Rivera is described frankly, but without being sensationalized.
Always a form of social communication...Frida’s costumes became an antidote to isolation; even at the end of her life...she dressed every day as if she were preparing fo...more
Frida Kahlo’s powerful will to live despite terrible health problems is shown vividly; her paintings are given detailed and sympathetic readings. Her roller-coaster marriage to Diego Rivera is described frankly, but without being sensationalized.
Always a form of social communication...Frida’s costumes became an antidote to isolation; even at the end of her life...she dressed every day as if she were preparing fo...more
I read this because the movie is a favorite. I think what fascinates me the most is that I really disliked Kahlo's style and looked somewhat askance at how much she painted herself before I read the book. But the more I read, the more I came to appreciate both - especially how autobiographical her paintings are.
At the same time, I was somewhat frustrated by the attention given to her art, or perhaps the way it was done. I feel like the issue here is with me rather than the biography itself - art...more
At the same time, I was somewhat frustrated by the attention given to her art, or perhaps the way it was done. I feel like the issue here is with me rather than the biography itself - art...more
I always thought of Frida Kahlo as a painter who had found her niche and appealed to a select audience. To me her works seemed one -dimensional. There is no denying that her works are compelling, mysterious, sensuous, and frequently disturbing. The author is a good writer who has thoroughly (sometimes too thoroughly) researched her subject. Besides Frida's relationship with Diego Rivera, the most fascinating aspect of the book, for me, was Frida's involvement with the worldwide Communist Party a...more
Frida Kahlo was such a complex indiviual, unfortunately Hayden Herrera simplifies this multifaceted artists life and passions. Like many Kahlo scholars in the 1970's she bases many of her ideas on Kahlo's work on gender stereotypes and assumptions. Read "Devouring Frida" if you are interested in a REAL analysis of the artist's life.
Jun 11, 2010
Angelique
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-read-in-2010
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Sep 24, 2009
Nafise 983
added it
داستان زندگی نقاش مکزیکی بنام فریدا کالو.کسی که زندگیش هم مانند آثارش آزادی خواهانه بود.و به عصیان زنان در برابر شرایط اجتماعی شان میپردازد .کسی که عشاق زیادی داشت و در زندگی جنسی خود همه مرزها حتی جنسیت را نادیده میگرفت.(در بعضی نقدها خواندم که نقش اجتماعی او با فروغ فرخزاد شاعر توانمند ایرانی مقایسه شده بود!!!) در سال ۲۰۰۲ در هالیوود فیلمی با نام فریدا براساس زندگی او ساخته شد. .
I agree as some reviewers have noted that this book is a bit light on Frida's feminist and revolutionary traits, buys into gender stereotytpes somewhat and so misses the complexity of her character and that some of the art analysis given seems to contradict what Frida herself has written on paintings or just seem very unlikely and a bit of a stretch.
One reviewer wrote: 'Herrera makes her out to be a Diego obsessed, pain obsessed sack of shit, and I'm not buying it.'
There is a lot of careful and...more
One reviewer wrote: 'Herrera makes her out to be a Diego obsessed, pain obsessed sack of shit, and I'm not buying it.'
There is a lot of careful and...more
This is an in depth book of the life of Frida Kahlo. Hayden Herrera compiles her family’s early history, Frida’s personal letters, her art, her passion and her pain.
In 1910, the year the Mexican Revolution began Frida was born to a Mexican mother and German father.
She had polio at age 6, was gored by a steel rail in a tragic accident on the trolley in Mexico City at the age of 18, for which she never fully recovered. She spent most of her life bed ridden and in body casts, submitting to over 30...more
In 1910, the year the Mexican Revolution began Frida was born to a Mexican mother and German father.
She had polio at age 6, was gored by a steel rail in a tragic accident on the trolley in Mexico City at the age of 18, for which she never fully recovered. She spent most of her life bed ridden and in body casts, submitting to over 30...more
essa é a opinião de uma pessoa fissurada por biografias desde sempre. de todo o tipo, em qualquer formato, de qualquer pessoa. em texto, geralmente os devoro em poucos dias.
mas nunca tive tanta preguiça para terminar de ler uma biografia. lá pelos 18 anos a frida já me deu uma canseira de tanta chatice - e olha que ela nem tinha sofrido o acidente ainda, era uma adolescente cheia de vigor e etc. achei ela uma mala sem alça. a autora também não ajuda: várias cartas citadas inteiras seguidas de v...more
mas nunca tive tanta preguiça para terminar de ler uma biografia. lá pelos 18 anos a frida já me deu uma canseira de tanta chatice - e olha que ela nem tinha sofrido o acidente ainda, era uma adolescente cheia de vigor e etc. achei ela uma mala sem alça. a autora também não ajuda: várias cartas citadas inteiras seguidas de v...more
I was never that interested in reading biographies. Thanks to my wife I gave this one a try and, it turns out, is a very good read. One of those situations where life trumps fiction. Kahlo had a very full life. From great tragedies in her own persona to great accomplishments in a world that was in a transitional phase, she was able to reach heights that no other Mexican woman had reached before or truly since. The narrative is fast and keeps you interested except for a slow part in the middle wh...more
I can't, on good conscience, give this book five stars. There are things about it that really troubled me: ableist language, rampant heterosexism, normative assumptions about gender that really weren't merited by the evidence. In a lot of places, my gut reaction was that the author was missing some key points about Frida Kahlo's life and art, but she doesn't necessarily give her reader the tools to formulate a different interpretation. The book is definitely flawed.
But in its flaws, it's also a...more
But in its flaws, it's also a...more
This biography has a lot of detail (440 pages). I read most of the letters and the curatorial descriptions of the paintings early in the book. But the plates in the book are not large or clear enough to see all the detail being described, so I started just skimming the art details and letters to get to the details of Frida's life. Mind you I loved the pictures. Just wish they were bigger.
What a life Frida lived! If you want to know something about Frida but don't want to tackle this biography -...more
What a life Frida lived! If you want to know something about Frida but don't want to tackle this biography -...more
My rating reflects the author's efforts and not the interest of the subject. Rated on Kalo, I would have awarded a rating of five, because Frida Kalo is an intriguing and compelling subject, whose life and art are inseparable and awe-inspiring.
I became interested in Kalo when I attended the San Francisco La Raza Homage to Frida Kalo (1978); her work grabbed my gut. Prints of her paintings The Little Deer and her self portraits with monkeys and with Diego Rivera looking out from her third eye hu...more
I became interested in Kalo when I attended the San Francisco La Raza Homage to Frida Kalo (1978); her work grabbed my gut. Prints of her paintings The Little Deer and her self portraits with monkeys and with Diego Rivera looking out from her third eye hu...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
People who don't like this book complain about Herrera's overlay of her own opinions and attitudes towards Kahlo obscuring the "truth" about the artist. Whatever the hell that means. I agree that Herrera sometimes wanders far afield in presuming things about Kahlo's paintings but don't let that stop you from enjoying the result of Herrera's careful and thorough research.
Didn't Kahlo paint in the way she did precisely to be obscure? Everyone claims she was really letting it all hang out and that...more
Didn't Kahlo paint in the way she did precisely to be obscure? Everyone claims she was really letting it all hang out and that...more
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Hayden Herrera is an art historian. She has lectured widely, curated several exhibitions of art, taught Latin American art at New York University, and has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. She is the author of numerous articles and reviews for such publications as Art in America, Art Forum, Connoisseur, and the New York Times, among others. Her books include Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo;...more
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Apr 24, 2012 06:26am
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