Frida : A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Frida : A Biography of Frida Kahlo
Book Review: There is no better Frida Kahlo biography available
Summary: 5 Stars
Since her death, Frida Kahlo has become something of an exalted icon, representing for millions of people the alegr?a of a life fully lived. Hayden Herrera's insightful book both supports the artist's status, and provides devotees who never met Frida the chance to know their idol in depth, to familiarize themselves with her happiness and suffering, to experience her highs and lows.
The book's mixture of intimate biographical details (a thorough chronology and evocative descriptions of events), psychological analysis and art criticism create an intensely vivid picture of Frida Kahlo, the world in which she lived, and the means by which her art conveyed her mind and body's pain. Objectivity is retained throughout; unflattering and negative aspects of Frida's personality are discussed with attention equal to that devoted to the subject's positive traits.
As Hayden Herrera's biography shows, the benefits to Frida of putting brush to easel - with her deliberate, small strokes - were manifold: not only was painting a solace and diversion, it was also a visual expression of the pain resulting from a terrible bus accident in which she was involved when she was 18, miscarriages, and the hurt of her husband Diego Rivera's infidelities. She also used painting as a means of earning money and limiting her financial dependence on Diego after they married for a second time. (While during her lifetime one of Frida's paintings might fetch $200 from a private buyer, nowadays even small-scale works have sold for over $1,000,000 at auction.)
To me, an appealing aspect of Herrera's bio is its lack of pretense (appropriately, as pretension is something Frida disliked in any form): you won't find any flowery, purple prose here, nor do the author's analyses and assertions smack of arrogance. It is quite apparent that Hayden Herrera knows her subject top to bottom, but I never felt as if facts and dates were crammed into the text superfluously, simply as proof that she knew them.
If it happens at all, it will be many years before Hayden Herrera's "Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo" is replaced as the definitive biography on the subject. Having read it cover to cover three times, I can't imagine a better-written or more stimulating study of this truly unique, truly gifted person.
Book Review: Biography of Frida Kahlo
Summary: 4 Stars
An inspiring Biography of famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. It was comprehensive, read like a documentary and at some points was long and boring with gory details. Frida was such an interesting person it was worth the struggle to get to the end. I now understand her and her works so much better. I think she was an odd and eccentric person that was gifted with natural artistic talent. I recommend looking at her paintings at the same time you listen to the audio since the audio is so descriptive almost like a narrative from a museum. It doesn't make sense unless you see the works at the same time. I found them on a website dedicated to her. There is nothing like her art, she is truly original! Book Review: The definitive Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Y Calder?n
Summary: 5 Stars
The are many good books on the market that show some of Frida's best work and many that have a good overview of her life as the daughter of Wilhelm Kahlo and the "on and off wife" of the famous mural painter Diego Rivera.
What sets this book out from the multitude is the attention to detail. There are actual correspondences from and to Frida. Also many things that may be glossed over are covered well enough that you feel you were there.
I originally saw the movie based on this book "Frida" (2002) with Salma Hayek. Many of the references in the movie were not covered even in the extensive commentaries. The book also has the time to cover the background of Frida's parents, grandparents, her friends and their relatives. We know about her trolley accident but not that much about her bout with polio.
The plates, some in color others of monochrome photos are placed on groups but referenced through out the book. Agree the descriptions they can be appreciated for not only themselves but what they meant to Frida and her friends. We also get a small glimpse of Mexico before and after the revolution.
Book Review: Viva la Vida
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book with a minimum of enthusiasm, to assist with my having to do a term paper in a Latin American history class at FSU. I knew who Frida was, but not much other than she was the artist-wife of Diego Rivera. Now I consider Diego Rivera as the artist-husband of the fascinating and heroic Frida. The author has succeeded in bringing this colorful and immensely brave woman to life in an engaging biography that almost reads like a novel. Watch Salma Hayek's "Frida" (Miramax 2002) and then satiate your whetted curiosity by reading the book that inspired the movie. Book Review: what's with the cover?
Summary: 4 Stars
An excellent biography, but I am totally disturbed by the cover photo. Why put an image of a living actress on the cover of a biography of a person of which there are thousands of suitable photographs? The movie was wonderful; I adore Salma Hayek. But she has no business being on the cover of the book.