Frida Kahlo

This volume explores the work of Frida Kahlo, one of the most significant and iconic artists of the 20th century. It presents an enlightening retrospective of her work, refocusing on the artistic qualities that have made her paintings some of the most important images of the last hundred years.

The work of Frida Kahlo, one of the most significant and iconic artists of the 20th century, is explored in this important new book. Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) is one of the most well-known artists of the twentieth century and her iconic image, so often presented in her paintings, has encouraged an army of devotees. Her colorful personal life, including her marriage to renowned Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, has been the subject of numerous biographies and a major film starring Salma Hayek. In recent times, public interest in Kahlo's life has threatened to eclipse serious consideration of her artistic achievement. This beautifully produced publication presents an enlightening retrospective of her work, refocusing on the artistic qualities that have made her paintings some of the most important images of the last hundred years. Presenting major works alongside the lesser known, and incorporating paintings, drawings, and photographs, the volume offers a thoroughly researched, accessible overview of her life's work. At the heart of the book, lavishly illustrated thematic sections illuminate the genres and themes that motivated her art, offering an ideal introductory survey while also enabling those readers more familiar with her work to encounter some of her most famous pieces afresh. In addition to essays by leading critics on aspects of Kahlo's life and works, a chronology charts the dramatic events of her personal, artistic, and political life, and an extensive, illustrated glossary explains the symbolic background to certain key elements that recur in her paintings, making this book essential for anyone interested in this most public and yet enigmatic of artists.