Viva la Frida

"The art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon tied around a bomb".
Andre Breton.

A beautiful gift book about the most recognizable artist of our time.

Frida Kahlo learned very early what suffering is. As a child, she contracted polio, and at eighteen,... she was severely injured in an accident: the bus she was riding collided with a tram. The injuries she sustained largely defined her subsequent life. Frida's marriage to the famous Mexican painter Diego Rivera was not easy — full of passions, disagreements, and of course, love. Both were champions of Mexican art and ardent communists. Surrealists admired Frida, the best photographers photographed her, but her greatest fame came from self-portraits and unusual still lifes.
This book tells the story of the extraordinary life of an artist whose unforgettable works combined cruelty and wittiness, honesty and bravado, pain and inspiration.
Writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio commented on the image of the artist in his book "Diego and Frida": "Art, childhood, beauty, violence, love are intricately woven into the luxurious everyday life that she creates around herself: national costumes reminiscent of the bright plumage of birds, and exotic plants, masks of Indian idols, hair braided and gathered in the manner of the headdress of the Aztec goddess of the earth Tlazolteotl, the magic of the surrounding nature that sometimes wounds so cruelly, tears shining like diamonds, and blood — the most precious of all liquids, — flowing like a bright crimson stream. It is this magic that gives Frida inspiration, gives her strength"...

Who this book is for:
For admirers of Frida Kahlo's work.
For all who are interested in feminism and the role of women in art.
For those interested in art.

From the author:
Until the end of her life, as if adhering to some ritual, Frida adorned herself like an idol, creating a unique image, probing her style, in which the references to the world of art became increasingly evident. There was something romantic in her approach (close to Germans as much as to Mexicans).
She attributed this to a desire to "return to the roots," to discover a truly Mexican identity in a country that elevates the values of the indigenous population above the traditions of Europeans and North Americans. Frida began a new dialogue with the mirror, gazing into herself in search of the missing affirmation of her German heritage.
Her life became art, her transformation as a woman and as an artist took place. As the wife of a "celebrated artist," she beautified herself for Diego, cooked deliciously, organized leisure, and served as a source of inspiration. In turn, the woman drew strength from his incredible energy, social recognition — and increasingly understood that one day she would become a professional artist and earn a living from it.