Frida Kahlo

by Sarah M. Lowe

Looks at the life and work of the twentieth-century Mexican painter who produced some of the most dramatic and original imagery of her time

Genres: Art, Biography

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 1991

Reviews

[Tina Casteris]

Art criticism is usually either inaccessible to the amateur art lover or overly emotional in its attempt to reach a broader audience. Sarah M. Lowe managed to explain Kahlo's symbolism in an academic manner that engaged my attention while teaching me an inordinate amount about this iconoclastic life with lovely prose. "Frida Kahlo faced all adversity - personal, societal, political - with tremendous inner strength. If her image 'Feet, what do I need them for, when I have wings to fly' speaks to a human condition, if it transcends the personal and enters the realm of the universal, it is because through art Kahlo was able to transform her personal misfortune into accessible and meaningful icons, if not of hope, then, at least, of will." (p. 114).

[Catherine]

Short biography and analysis of Kahlo's work, including the symbolism in many of her paintings and some of the cultural context for her art. I think this is a good introduction to the artist's work, if occasionally getting a bit too academic for the average reader without a background in art criticism.

[nicai]

I like this book because it narrates the life of Frida through her paintings, from start to finish...because that's what Frida's works are all about...her life...and it has information about her paintings...

[Samuel Valentino]

A good introduction to the painter and her work. The author knows a lot about the history of Frida's time and her art influences, which helps make Frida's paintings more understandable in an art history sense but also give's a feeling for how her art is unique from her contemporaries'.