Customer Reviews

Frida Kahlo: National Homage 1907-2007

5 star:		(0)
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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is the catalogue for a huge exhibition held in 2007 at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico organized as a celebration for the centennial of Frida Kahlo's birth. Self-proclaimed "the most important devoted to the artist in recent decades", the book starts with an introduction by Carlos Fuentes which can be read like a poetical biography of the artist, with vivid descriptions of the various influences, whether literary or political, that shaped her art (an interesting parallel is made by the writer at the end between Kafka and Kahlo, who shared their initials, and their relationship to their native cities, Prague and Mexico City).

After that introduction come the numerous colorplates of the works (many paintings, portraits, landscapes, self-portraits, still-lifes), each one accompanied by an essay written by a different personality (writer, art historian, critic, essayist)who gives his or her own personal views on the particular work he or she was assigned to comment and describe. This choice of making this book a literary study of Frida Kahlo's paintings,more than a mere exhibition catalogue based on art historical references, undoubtedly makes for good reading and sheds a different light on the works. Unfortunately, the quality of the reproductions is poor, which is why I only give it three stars.