Frida Kahlo has achieved such a level of iconic importance that most people who view her work have seen it only in reproductions: photos, posters, book illustrations, greeting cards, etc. As with all artists, though, seeing her work in person is really essential to appreciating it.
Frida’s subject material – the terrible bus accident when she was a girl, now so famous an event; the subsequent multiple operations; the corset-like braces; the bleeding, the miscarriages, the pain, the personal suffering, the emotional devastation, her marriages to Diego Rivera – is all so well-known and interesting that the viewer can be forgiven for not looking beyond it. But it’s worth asking, was she really a good artist? Was she the great artist that so many congratulate her for being, even greater than her remarkable husband Diego?
To help answer those questions, you should go to the current exhibition of Frida’s work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, on view until September 28. It would also be helpful to read Hayden Herrera’s wonderful book about Frida, one of the finest biographies I have ever read. Indeed it is one of the finest books I have ever read.
There are some artists and writers whose lives are almost as compelling as their work. Ernest Hemingway comes to mind, as always. Pablo Picasso. Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Indeed there are those whose lives are even more compelling than their work, as with Gertrude Stein - in her case, far more compelling. Frida’s life contains so much adventuresome brio, so much terrible pain and so profound a mix of lurching emotions, great kindness, and deeply-felt love, that you could hardly find as compelling a character in the pages of any fiction.
Ms. Herrera’s book exploits all these things and does so with so much good writing that the book itself is really a page-turner. This is not the usual in serious biographies. But Herrera’s talent as a writer allows her to tell Frida’s story with all the tenderness and verve it deserves. It is a very fine book that presents a delicately nuanced, painful, often humorous portrait of a very considerable person and artist.
Article comments
1 - Laura
Nice review! I was in SF a few days ago, but did not have enough time to go see the show. At first I thought you were trying to actually compare Rembrandt with Frida and I was getting ready to prepare a nice long response telling you why you were wrong to even try and do so. It just simply can not and should not be done. Then I realized what you were actually doing... (good job you made me think!)
Aesthetically, I would probably choose Rembrandt over Frida Kahlo, but in almost every other way, they are two remarkably different artists. Indeed, Rembrandt is one of the best, but for her time and place and what she set out to do (or didn't set out to do), Frida Kahlo should certainly share a spot with Rembrandt on the list of greatest artists. Though filled with a lot of sadness and pain, the story of Frida Kahlo is a beautiful one and her work definitely portrays that.
"I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration." -Frida Kahlo
"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best." -Frida Kahlo
" I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality." -Frida Kahlo
2 - Terence Clarke
Hello Laura:
Thank you. Yes, one takes his chances comparing anyone to Rembrandt. I had seen individual paintings by Frida here and there, but I'd never seen as large a presentation of her work as this one is. The show is a smash hit, with huge crowds. But these days, given Frida's fame, that's to be expected. I only hope that the people in line at the exhibition do understand how fine an artist she was and, above all, that she was not merely a talented victim of circumstance.
Thanks also, by the way, for the quotes from Frida. One of the real charms of Hayden Herrera's biography is that she allows Frida to speak for herself very often, through quotes from interviews and, principally, from her letters. She's best in Spanish, of course. But she wrote a very fine English too, often salted with a lot of humor.
Thanks again,
Terry
3 - Bliffle
Good article. I always enjoy your articles, in fact.
A few years ago, 2000 in fact, I was pleased to tour Robert Bradys home, now a public museum, and quite interesting, in Cuernavaca and find therein several of Kahlos works.
4 - Jet Gardner
"...A few years ago, 2000 in fact," Bliff you mean you're... Jesus?