Customer Reviews

Kahlo (Basic Art)

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4 star:		(3)
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The ambitious Taschen art series excels at giving an artists works in a nutshell, covering the biography of the artist as well as it's best known works. Following the succcesful formula that has brought you more than fifty artists, from Boteticelli to Andy Warhol, this book on Frida Kahlo is a basic primer. This is the perfect book for someone to learn a little something about the Mexican artist and popular icon of the familiar soaring bird eyebrows . The short biography covers the major events of her tumultous life and graphically displays her most well known works accompanied by some black and white photographs of her with husband Diego Rivera and other notables from her era. The organization and brevity of the book make for the basic cliff notes on Frida. Compiled and researched well the result is a tasteful book for the basics. The perfect book for the casual observer to find out if more information is needed to be learned about this fantastic Mexican artist. It is satisfying but if more detailed insight is needed I would recommend two other books. One is the book the editor relies upon heavily by Hayden Herrera which is the defintive book about Frida Kahlo entitled "Frida A Biography of Frida Kahlo." The other I would recommend for further exploration is by Martha Zamorra entitled Frida Kahlo: The Brush of Anguish." Zamorra's hard to find Spanish edition is superb and much better than the edited English version. Nonetheless, the Tashen version is a good quality book full of vibrant color on good paper printed in Germany on stock that will last many years. Recommended for the art student or anyone interested in this most tormented soul who left her mark in art for the world to enjoy.

A brief but concise biography of Kahlo and over 70 examples of her work. Having been mesmerized by a few of her pieces, I wanted to see more and learn something about her life. This was just the right dose for me.

Benedikt Taschen succeeded in producing a concise yet highly informative biography, which is an excellent departure point for people discovering Frida Kahlo's universe. Art and Spanish students alike will enjoy all the references to other written works, which will make their research easier. Let's not forget an excellent choice of pictures which supplement the photographic reproductions of the artist's work.The commentaries are equally useful. This book is an excellent basic to have in your bookcase and a great introduction to Frida Kahlo.

This beautiful Taschen volume by Andre Kettenmann takes the reader through the tormented life of this famous Mexican painter, just as famous for her own artwork as for being the wife of Mexican artist, Diego Rivera. Her works, from the surrealist to the more naif, all of them sexually charged and driven by her life's tragedys and happy moments, are discussed along with the times of her life when she painted them, allowing everyone to take a peek into Frida's soul some 50+ years after her departure from this planet.

This is a short but very complete biography with beautiful pictures and illustrations. I highly recommend it to Spanish and art teachers and students, as well as to others who may be interested in learning more about Frida Kahlo's life and art.

"Frida Kahlo 1907-1954: Pain And Passion" travels through her life and turbulances through her many paintings she drew throughout her life. This book is more than just her paintings. The auther shares the story of the inspiration of her every paintings. She shares everything in great detail that is highly accurate to Kahlo's living. Every page shows how Kahlo has inspired a generation of artists ranging beyond painting. It's great that the author wrote this book since many are unaware of Kahlo's work. Her words keep Kahlo's art and her life alive. This book is great for those looking to get inspired and to learn about this genius painter. Those wanting more should also watch the movie "Frida", starring Selma Hayak as Frida Kahlo.

After watching the Bio-Pic "Frida" (2002), Director: Julie Taymor, based on the book "Frida : A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera, I decided it wad time to read more of this Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) who married Diego Rivera and was an artist in her own write.

This book, "Frida Kahlo 1907-1954: Pain and Passion" by Andrea Kettenmann, Is a great and informative introduction to Kahlo, her art and the person behind the art. Not to sound shallow but the color reproductions and the photos are worth the purchase price on their own. However knowing what they are trying to portray always ads that extra meaning.

No matter what book or movie you buy this is an added must to your library and a different look at the life and times of Freda.

This arrived in perfect condition. It also arrived on time. I appreciate the product and will buy from this source again...nan

Frida is one of my very favorite artists and her life was not an easy one.
Even with her back problems and her strange relationships she managed to be an
extraordinary artist and this book shares her story with you from start
to finish.

Reading this beautifully presented book, I felt much closer to Frida Kahlo than I ever expected to feel to an artist. The paintings reproduced in the book were of brilliant quality, and the biography was brief enough to read in a few days while still giving valuable information to understanding Kahlo's paintings. However, I didn't like the fact that, many times in the book, the meaning and history of a painting was discussed on one page, while a picture of the painting itself was shown a few pages later, when my mind was focused on another painting. There were several two page sections of the book filled entirely with paintings with one-sentence descriptions, which was great, but I didn't like the fact that the writing before the two page interludes sometimes stopped mid sentence, leaving me hanging as I looked over the paintings in between.

Final Verdict:

Great art book for first time art readers or those who are not sure they like art. Don't let my complaints on the style deter you from reading it: just be aware.