Books By Theme (BBT): Frida Kahlo

Read any good books about Frida Kahlo lately? Have specific art books to recommend? What about something off the beaten path... a novel where a character by another name who is based on her, or one where she's a secondary character, or a non-fiction book where she is mentioned as an influence somehow?

Oooh, you did it! Now I have to go find the one Frida Kahlo novel I have at home that I haven't read yet! How will I ever squeeze it in with everything else I have to do (and read) in the coming months?!

HA HA! I tried not to waste too much time while I've got the motivation to get this BBT thing off the ground. I just thought since there were two of you who suggested our dear Frida, probably other people would be interested too. She's such an intriguing figure!

One book I thought was a wonderful read was Frida by Barbara Mujica. She's a local (to me, anyway!) author whose book is a novel written from the point of view of Frida Kahlo's sister.

I just posted a review of this book her on LT. The review was one I had on my pc from when I actually read this book back in 2003.

She's such an intriguing figure!

She is! In conjunction with this theme, it would be fun for us to see her art in real life (what an experience!) as well as the art of her husband, Diego Rivera.

In addition, I will also heartily suggest that people see the film starring Salma Hayek called "Frida".

It's fun enough to read about Frida Kahlo if you are at all familiar with her. However, I'd suggest to those who are not familiar with her to learn about her as well. To me, she is one of the most intriguing characters in the world of art.

By the way, my daughter despises her and flatly refused to see an exhibit of Firda's art. Ha! A fair warning: Frida Kahlo is indeed kind of creepy!

Great suggestions Madeline! Glad you mention Diego Rivera because in the scope of BBT, it would be perfectly fine to include a book on him if Kahlo is mentioned in it (very likely). Or a book on Mexican artists would also be great.

And yes, creepy. I have to be in the right kind of mood to look at her work.

You must be in that mood now as you already posted one of her paintings! :)

One book I've been wanting to get to is Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna. It's fiction and the main character is a boy that grows up working for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

#8 Maybe you're right Madeline. Mostly though I just figured that it makes sense to have an image for threads about artists!

#9 Sounds really interesting. Great suggestion! Would be nice if you came back and posted your review here when you do read it.

Here's another book to get you started on fiction about Frida Kahlo. Read Frida's Bed by Slavenka Drakulic. Look at my review LT for more details about why I found this particular book to be such an interesting read.

Madeline, I just read your review of Frida's Bed and wishlisted it but saw your recommendation to have a basic understanding of her real life first. Have you read any biographies of her life that you'd recommend?

I don't think you need to do read a full biography. Even go to wikipedia and read about the wierdness that was her life. Just something or anything to know that the fiction you'll be reading is often based on fact.

Why would you want to read about Frida Kahlo? Here's something to try...

Look at these paintings of hers. Why would she even paint things like that? There's where you get into wanting to read about her...

Thanks for those links, Madeline. I looked at some of the paintings and read the wikipedia entry on her life ("pain and passion") which sounds fascinating. Now I'm going to go to PBS and see if they have the book.

What's really interesting in reading about Frida Kahlo is to learn about her turbulent life first and then look at the psychological picture of her that comes out in her paintings.

I agree. I looked at some of the paintings of bloody bodies, skeletons, etc. and didn't know what to think until I read wikipedia about all the pain she suffered both physical and emotional. PBS didn't have Frida's Bed but Amazon had it for $5.20 for a new paperback so it's on it's way.

I had absolutely no plans to read about Frida Kahlo (except to get to The Lacuna because I own a copy) until today. Now I'm thinking there has to be a good biography out there so I'm going to see what I can find.

Read the review that kidzdoc posted. I talked him into reading this same book a while back. :)

#17 I had absolutely no plans to read about Frida Kahlo until today.
We 75ers sure are great at helping each other spend money on books or at the very least growing our wishlists! :-)

#18 Madeline, is there some way we can provide a link to Darryl's review here?

Interesting review. I must have read about her before and I did see the movie many years ago because Darryl's description of her physical ailments reminded me that I already knew all about that. I think that even without a catalogue of her work, there are probably enough examples online so anyone who wants to see the works that are described in the book can still do so. That said, references for great books featuring her work are most welcome!

Thanks for linking to Darryl's review, Madeline. My library has the biography he mentioned so as soon as I pick up the books I currently have on hold there, I can place a hold on it. The library also has a couple of DVDs of documentaries about her life, so I'll have to see if any of those are any good.

Ilana, I'm loving this thread (and the other BBT ones) but they're definitely going to be dangerous for my wishlist.

#22 I also suggest you see the movie with Salma Hayek. Very powerful as well as beautiful. Like her paintings!

Disclaimer: I cannot be held responsible for damages done to your wishlist or wallet due to exposure to BBT threads. :-)

The movie 'Frida' (which I agree is absolutely beautiful, by the way, and spirited, and feisty, and moving...) was based on the biography Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera. It's waiting on my shelves!

That looks like another great biography Ellie. I'll look forward to seeing your review about it.

#24 I got both the movie and the biography (which is huge) out of the library today. I'm going to tackle the movie first.

I have Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of a Life with Frida Kahlo besides recipes it includes illustrations from Frida's cookbooks and notebooks, as well vintage photographs.

Edit: Forgot subtitle

Wow! That cookbook sure looks interesting.

I can't help but wonder if she cooked mostly Mexican dishes or whether she was interested in cuisines from around the world.

The tags that go with that particular book say "Mexican cooking" and "Mexican cuisine" so I suspect the former rather than the latter.

>29 Smiler69:, 30 The recipes in the book are 100 traditional Mexican foods that she made for the family.

#27, 30, 31 If I were cooking more than once a week these days, I might look it up but I think I would be tempted with something that doesn't involve me spending more time in the kitchen than I need to right now. lol

Still, I'd be interested in your review!

Sorry to chime in so late! In addition to Frida's Bed (thanks for recommending it, Madeline) and The Lacuna, I also have Frida Kahlo, the catalogue I bought at the 2008 Kahlo exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It includes three essays, including one by her biographer, Hayden Herrera, a timeline of events during and surrounding her life, and over 150 pages of Kahlo's prints and photographs of her, her family, Diego Rivera, and others.

Hmm...maybe I'll read this today.

I'm curious as to how every learned about Frida Khalo. It was through a university anthropology course that I first learned about Diego Rivera. I'd gone to see an art exhibit of his paintings (about Mexican peasnat workers). I think ti was from that exhibit (reading about Diego Rivera) that I first either read about or saw paintings by Frida Kahlo. Of course, the fact that they were so bizarre led me to wanting to know more about her. I was also fortunate to have seen two exhibits of her work.

One of the interesting things about Frida's art is that some of the painting were much smaller than what I'd have imagined. The content of all of her paintings seems larger than life.

Has anyone read In the Casa Azul? Any thoughts about that book as I have it somewhere here in my house.

I just finished looking at the first part of an hour long documentary on Frida Kahlo, that is available on YouTube:

Frida Kahlo biography - (1 of 6)

I'll look at the rest of it over the next two days; the first part was excellent.

I'm not sure where or when I first learned about Frida Kahlo. I was aware of her (and Diego Rivera) before the 2002 movie "Frida" came out, so I would guess that I saw some of her work in a museum sometime before then. I became familiar with her after the comprehensive and superb exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2008.

Madeline is right; most of her paintings that were on display in Philadelphia were small in size, though powerful in their effect. I was intrigued by her use of the frame in several of her paintings as part of the work, particularly in The Suicide of Dorothy Hale and A Few Small Nips.

I think everything about Frida Kahlo was larger than life!

I hadn't heard of In the Casa Azul, which I assume is a reference to the blue house (casa azul) that she & Diego Rivera shared in Mexico City during their marriage, which is now the Museo Frida Kahlo. I'll add this title to my wish list.

> 35

I think everything about Frida Kahlo was larger than life!

Indeed!

I'll have to pull In the Casa Azul and read it sooner rather than later.

These look interesting - others have mentioned Frida's Bed above. I've not read any of these but I hope to soon.

Frida - A Novel By Barbara Mujica

What is it like to be the not-so-significant sister of one of the century's leading artists? Barbara Mujica's Frida, a fictional account of Frida Kahlo's life, tells itself through the medium of Kahlo's sister Christina, separated in age from the icon by only eleven months.

The late Nobel laureate Octavio Paz. In Essays on Mexican Art, he questions whether someone could be both a great artist and "a despicable cur."

Slavenka Drakulic's novel Frida's Bed

Is a journey into the mind of Frida Kahlo as she lays on her bed just before the end of her life at the age of 47. Drakulic creates in blistering but beautiful narrative the kaleidoscoping thoughts of Kahlo as she veers through her memories, cycling back and forth in time, much as real thinking reels from place to place.

I've read The Lacuna and seen the film. I've also seen some of Kahlo and Rivera's paintings in a museum, but I can't remember where at the moment!

Another novel I liked, which I think was longlisted for the Orange, but still rather obscure, was Meaghan Delahunt's In the Blue House. I'm assuming the touchstone title is a variant title of the same book (it makes sense).

#34 Madeline, I wish I could remember when I discovered her work but that memory is buried along with countless others somewhere. Since I'm interested in art and have been exposed to it all my life it's hard to say how I come across any one artist.

#35 thanks for the link to the documentary Darryl, I just watched the first part and looking forward to seeing the rest.

Great suggestions everyone, keep them coming!