The Letters of Frida Kahlo: Cartas apasionadas [Hardcover]

Martha Zamora (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1995

The only volume of its kind, The Letters of Frida Kahlo reveals fascinating details about Kahlo's romances, friendships, and business affairs in a selection of letters to friends, collectors, doctors, family, politicians, lovers, and, of course, Diego Rivera. In over 80 pieces, Kahlo discusses her art, politics, and tragedies with a passionate energy that no biographer of this important artist could ever capture. The Letters of Frida Kahlo, full of ardent desires, seething fury, and outrageous humor, will delight the many fans of her art with a glimpse into an exuberant and troubled existence.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her enigmatic self-portraits, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) depicted herself as an enchanting, exotic yet martyred woman, and these candid letters, written between 1924 and 1948, flesh out that image with revealing personal glimpses. They cover her hospitalization after a near-fatal bus accident in 1925, which left her with lifelong spinal and foot injuries; her separation from and reconciliation with husband Diego Rivera in 1935, prompted by the muralist's affair with her sister Christina; Frida's affair with Hungarian-born photographer Nicholas Murray; her divorce from Rivera in 1939 and remarrige to him a year later. These highly articulate, witty letters, by turns touching, playful, desperate and mystical, present a woman who lived for her art, when she was not tending to the needs of her moody husband. This attractive volume also includes poems by Kahlo, her lecture analyzing her painting of Moses and her character sketch of "steadfast revolutionary fighter" Rivera.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Martha Zamora writes and lectures extensively on the life of Frida Kahlo, and wrote the best-selling Frida Kahlo: The Brush of Anguish . She lives in Mexico City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; First Printing edition (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811811247
• ISBN-13: 978-0811811248
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 6.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #440,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Addition to your collection, July 11, 2005

By 

Onitensei (Carlsbad, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Letters of Frida Kahlo: Cartas Apasionadas (Hardcover)

If you enjoy reading about Frida Kahlo this is a great addition. The letters are kept in their original format as well as possible. The book is easy to read and laid out beautifully. It is insightful in ways that other biographical books have not been so far. If you love Frida Kahlo this is a great book to purchase.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get to know the real Frida Kahlo, September 10, 2007

By 

M. Brooks "Frida Kahlo - Amrita Sher-Gil Fan" (Sacramento, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Letters of Frida Kahlo: Cartas apasionadas (Hardcover)

This book contains a collection of more than eighty important letters and other documents written by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo to friends, fans, family, politicians and lovers. These letters, written between 1924 and 1948, presents another kind of self-portrait revealing Kahlo's inter most personal feelings about her art, politics, tragedies and events in her life. This book also includes poems by Kahlo, her lecture analyzing her award winning painting "Moses" and an essay about her husband, the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. The book begins with a 3 page chronology. There are only a few illustrations of sketches in this book and only one photograph of Kahlo. There are no illustrations or discussion of her paintings. The letters have been reproduced in their original format as much as possible, to include her own "Spanglish" language, other foreign words and the profanities which she often used. This book is recommended reading if you want to get to know and feel the emotions of the real Frida Kahlo.