Frida Kahlo [Hardcover]

Margaret Hooks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2003

This selection of portraits of Frida Kahlo brings together the work of some of the most renowned photographers of the twentieth century. The images span Frida Kahlo's life beginning with the photograph of the self-possessed chubby four-year-old with her fist full of wilting roses and ending with the image of an emaciated, wasted figure on her deathbed forty-two years later. They follow the artist's trajectory from precocious child to famous artist; bringing into focus the painter, the paintings, the patient, the wife, the daughter, the lover and the friend. They permit us to peer into her bedroom, sit at her table, visit her hospital room, wander into her garden, view her collections and play with her pets. Some of these photographs conceal as much as they reveal about the woman who described herself as 'la gran ocultadora', the great concealer. While most of the images provide us with a unique opportunity to glimpse the woman behind the facade, others perhaps not so revealing, are equally fascinating in allowing us to view one of the most intriguing of the artist's creations; the construction of a self-image as carefully crafted and conceived as any of the painter's other works of art.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is an entire book of photographic portraits of Kahlo, not paintings by Kahlo. And she is, from page to page, fascinating. The photographs themselves are beautiful. Sometimes sepia-toned and sometimes in grays, they are given full, sumptuous, captionless pages, and are expertly printed. Kahlo, the artist and self-proclaimed "great concealer," stares at the viewer, challenging or smug, flirtatious or sad-and always blazingly smart. Her work features in some of the backgrounds, as does artwork by Picasso or her spouse Diego Rivera. Often she holds an animal (a rabbit, a dog, a bird) like an attribute, appearing like a saint in a medieval icon painting. An array of pioneering photographers from the beginning of the 20th century made her portrait: Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, as did her lover Nickolas Murray, and her father, Guillermo Kahlo. Hooks (Tina Modotti: Radical Photographer) has assembled this grouping from the collection of the gallerist Spencer Throckmorton. The images begin with the round-faced four-year-old and end with Kahlo emaciated, posed on her deathbed. In between, it seems that few of these images were completely untouched by Kahlo herself. Her choice of clothing (headdresses or pants, or, in one case, a corset with a hammer and sickle) speaks as loudly of her personality as her steady eyes. Hooks describes how Kahlo's debilitating physical pain may have concealed her vivacious personality in some of these photographs "beneath a tight mask but her eyes seek out the viewer with a gaze that continues to challenge and captivate." Kahlo, it seems, was hardly a passive subject, leaving behind her own carefully crafted legacy as an icon.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Margaret Hooks has more than 15 years' experience in the field of fine art and documentary photography as a writer, collector and appraiser. She has written numerous articles on art and photography for international publications, among them ARTnews, Afterimage, Luna Cornea and Vogue. Her books include the award-winning biography Tina Modotti: Radical Photographer.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing (March 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747566836
• ISBN-13: 978-0747566830
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,183,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A luxury of a book!, February 22, 2011

By 

Carmen Quintero Salazar "LaDivaVeneca" (Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frida Kahlo: Portraits 0f An Icon (Hardcover)

This is a gorgeous book. As someone obsessed with everything that is Frida Kahlo, this book gives you an intimate look into Frida's life and what was important to her. A must have for every fan or collector!

5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love Frida!, June 21, 2005

By 

supernovadiva5000 (dallas, texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frida Kahlo: Portraits 0f An Icon (Hardcover)

This is a must have for Kahlo fans out there. She's talented. She's beautiful. She's fierce.