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A review by difficultwomanreads
Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera
4.0
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 particular her marriage to fellow artist Diego Rivera--and sets them against the psychological undertones of her works. At times, this was one of the book's flaws: Herrera also has a book out about Frida's paintings, and I feel that art analysis, as inevitable as it is when writing about an artist, is more appropriate for a study of art. Sometimes, there was a little too much about Frida's paintings and not enough about Frida.
However, that issue is a small one and doesn't detract from an accomplished biography. Many writers would have viewed Frida's lifestyle, and particularly her marriage to Rivera, with a jaundiced, post-feminist-movement eye. Herrera is honest and does not criticize her subject. She only wishes to study her, and to try to explain Frida's psychology without yammering about her mistakes. She also doesn't lionize the artist, detailing her many flaws with refreshing honesty.
Again, Kahlo's marriage to Rivera often takes center stage, because he was a huge part of her life. Rivera was not so much Kahlo's husband as he was her lover, her best friend, and her great supporter in terms of art. Despite his many flaws, he never seemed threatened by her great talent, and was in fact proud of it. One of the great things about this book is that you get to learn a lot about Rivera, simply because he influenced Frida so much, and vice versa.
As interesting as the Riveras' relationship was, I would have liked to see a bit more of Frida's personal life outside of her marriage. "Frida" is by no means a recent publication, and I wonder if as much was known about Frida's affairs and their effect on her work when Herrera was researching the artist. In particular, there are many, many details about Frida's heterosexual affairs but fewer still on her homosexual involvements. Which is kind of odd, since she likely had many, what with Rivera tolerating his wife's lesbian affairs more than he did her heterosexual relationships. It doesn't take away from the book, again, but simply struck me as kind of odd.
Finally, on a purely superficial note, I wish that my copy had a different cover. I can understand replacing the original cover with the movie cover when you're trying to sell a commercial blockbuster like Twilight, but... this is a real person. This is Frida Kahlo. There are plenty of amazing photographs of her, and many, many fantastic self portraits. As much as I loved Salma Hayek's portrayal of the artist, WHY IS SHE ON THE COVER I MEAN WHY.
"Frida" could have had a bit more detail; but overall, it's a great biography and I highly recommend it to fans of the artist and those interested in female-focused painting.
Herrera constructs a detailed, engaging biography that examines the major events of Frida's life--and in particular her marriage to fellow artist Diego Rivera--and sets them against the psychological undertones of her works. At times, this was one of the book's flaws: Herrera also has a book out about Frida's paintings, and I feel that art analysis, as inevitable as it is when writing about an artist, is more appropriate for a study of art. Sometimes, there was a little too much about Frida's paintings and not enough about Frida.
However, that issue is a small one and doesn't detract from an accomplished biography. Many writers would have viewed Frida's lifestyle, and particularly her marriage to Rivera, with a jaundiced, post-feminist-movement eye. Herrera is honest and does not criticize her subject. She only wishes to study her, and to try to explain Frida's psychology without yammering about her mistakes. She also doesn't lionize the artist, detailing her many flaws with refreshing honesty.
Again, Kahlo's marriage to Rivera often takes center stage, because he was a huge part of her life. Rivera was not so much Kahlo's husband as he was her lover, her best friend, and her great supporter in terms of art. Despite his many flaws, he never seemed threatened by her great talent, and was in fact proud of it. One of the great things about this book is that you get to learn a lot about Rivera, simply because he influenced Frida so much, and vice versa.
As interesting as the Riveras' relationship was, I would have liked to see a bit more of Frida's personal life outside of her marriage. "Frida" is by no means a recent publication, and I wonder if as much was known about Frida's affairs and their effect on her work when Herrera was researching the artist. In particular, there are many, many details about Frida's heterosexual affairs but fewer still on her homosexual involvements. Which is kind of odd, since she likely had many, what with Rivera tolerating his wife's lesbian affairs more than he did her heterosexual relationships. It doesn't take away from the book, again, but simply struck me as kind of odd.
Finally, on a purely superficial note, I wish that my copy had a different cover. I can understand replacing the original cover with the movie cover when you're trying to sell a commercial blockbuster like Twilight, but... this is a real person. This is Frida Kahlo. There are plenty of amazing photographs of her, and many, many fantastic self portraits. As much as I loved Salma Hayek's portrayal of the artist, WHY IS SHE ON THE COVER I MEAN WHY.
"Frida" could have had a bit more detail; but overall, it's a great biography and I highly recommend it to fans of the artist and those interested in female-focused painting.