From Publishers Weekly
A delicately beautiful woman who smoked and drank "like a mariachi" and enjoyed her own sexual freedom even as she suffered the infidelities of her adored husband Diego Rivera, Kahlo painted ferociously honest visions of her private world. In this first volume of the Bantam-Barnard Biography series, Drucker graphically recounts the artist's devastating accident and tortured physical life with a fearlessness to match Kahlo's own. No apologies are made for Kahlo's many love affairs with both men and women or for her unabashed support of Communism as a means of allaying endemic poverty. Detailed analyses of Kahlo's autobiographical paintings convey the surreal morbidity of Mexican culture as well as the facts of a brief but abundantly gifted life. From the opening scenes of a young, polio-stricken Frida conjuring up an imaginary friend to the final hallucinatory image of the dead artist, we are irresistibly drawn to this woman whose life has much to teach about passion, courage and self-determination. Ages 14-up. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-- A compelling story of one of Mexico's best-known painters. Kahlo once said, "I have suffered two accidents in my life . . . one in which a streetcar ran over me. The other is Diego." Suffering damage to her spine and legs in the first of these accidents when she was 18 years old, she lived in constant pain for 47 years. The second accident she refers to was her tumultuous marriage to Diego Rivera, the famous muralist. Most of her paintings are autobiographical, many describing aspects of her suffering in a style that incorporated aspects of native Mexican art. Drucker's story of this fascinating, enormously creative woman who enjoyed so much in life despite her pain is well researched and eminently readable. There is a small but helpful selection of black-and-white photographs and reproductions of Kahlo's paintings as well as an excellent introduction. --Ann Stell, The Smithtown Library, NYCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In his beautifully illustrated survey of Frida Kahlo's work, Lozano (art history, Iberoamerican Univ., Mexico City) explores her life and paintings in a series of essays that range from a poetic study by noted Mexican cultural critic Carlos Monsiv is to a short, prosaic piece written in 1943 by her husband, Diego Rivera, to an academic essay by Lozano himself. The common thread is how Kahlo's pre-Columbian background helped her find her own identity in the world and in the artist circles she frequented. To create a portrait of a woman so talented yet so tortured, Lozano uses Kahlo's own stunning images, offering high-quality reproductions of some of Kahlo's most famous works as well as some of her lesser-known pieces. Previously unseen photos of Kahlo at work in her studio are also included. The detail and clarity of the images is incredible, allowing the reader to explore each painting thoroughly. [For more on the Spanish-language edition of this book, see Criticas, Fall 2001, p. 41. Ed.] Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
In the first title in the ``Bernard-Bantam Biography'' series, an experienced writer of nonfiction delves into the life of a Mexican painter whose reputation is suddenly in the ascendant, in a straightforward account of her life that emphasizes her unquenchable spirit. The sections that relate Kahlo's earliest artistic efforts to the circumstances of her life are especially strong; her tumultuous marriage to muralist Diego Rivera is also effectively portrayed. To include a chronology, an index, and six color reproductions of art plus b&w photos (not seen). (Biography. 12+) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Midwest Book Review
Kahlo's tragic life and artistic talents are surveyed in an excellent biography of Mexico's famous painter, creating an excellent dual survey of her life and works. This reads almost like a novel, encouraging novices to learn the basics of Kahlo's talents and life.


Book Description
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a Mexican artist whose life was nearly as dramatic and fiery as her art. She endured a catastrophic set of physical calamities as a child and young woman, was an active member of the Communist Party, and survived a tempestuous marriage to the artist Diego Rivera. This book includes many photographs of her life alongside her extraordinary paintings, and presents commentary by leading Mexican art historians, stunning reproductions of her most seminal works-some never before reproduced, and nine gatefolds allowing the reader to examine in detail aspects of her larger works.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
This exceptional volume is the most complete survey to date of Frida Kahlo's work. With more than 200 reproductions of Kahlo's paintings, and extensive essays on her art as well as her life, Frida Kahlo is the definitive book on this celebrated Mexican artist. A prolific painter who produced hundreds of works in her lifetime, Kahlo channeled the tumultuous events of her childhood, marriage, and career into her canvases with ferocious honesty. Over the years, Kahlo developed a rich symbolic world in her paintings and populated it with images of herself, her husband, Diego Rivera, and icons of death, life, rebirth, nature, protest, and desire. Her numerous self-portraits explored the many facets of her identity, often depicting her with birds or other animals gathered around her.

Considering the deeply personal nature of Kahlo's artwork, it is essential to understand the key events in her life, from her stormy marriage to Rivera to the catastrophic accident that altered her life forever. One of the strengths of this book is that the essays and biography contained in this book do a superb job of recounting Kahlo's life and linking significant events with the symbols in her paintings. There are scores of excellent photographs of Kahlo contained in the book, capturing the artist at many stages in her life. The other key strength of the book is its quality, from the paper and binding to the superior reproductions of Kahlo's paintings. Many of these reproductions are printed on rich black matte backgrounds, further intensifying the vibrant colors of the artist's work. Details from several paintings are printed on gatefold pages, inviting the viewer to closely examine the passionate brushstrokes up close. Frida Kahlo is a superb representation of Kahlo's dynamic personality and remarkable paintings. (Julie Carr)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) is best known for her numerous self-portraits, which she filled with symbolic and surrealist elements, such as her own head on the body of a deer, skeletal figures, and fantastic and colorful birds and animals. As her work has been reassessed in recent years, and she has come to be recognized as the groundbreaking figure that she was, her reputation has only grown. This spectacular book not only reproduces more than 200 of her paintings from every genre, including landscape and still life as well as the self-portraits, but also shows how the drama of her life informed her art. The catastrophic physical calamities she experienced -- polio, a serious bus accident, miscarriages, and the lasting pain from her injuries -- as well the events of her fiery emotional life in her marriage to Diego Rivera, her affair with Leon Trotsky, and her sorrow at remaining childless are all represented literally or symbolically in her paintings. Her ability to endure and her willingness to reveal both her weakness and her strength in her work continue to inspire.