“Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo,” Hayden Herrera
For those of you who know me, it might seem incredible that I haven’t read this biography until now, but it’s true! Knowing most of what there is to know about Frida Kahlo, I still was able to gain a deeper appreciation for the woman Frida, as opposed to the now mythic figure that pop culture seems to worship. She was a woman full of the same anxieties and stressors that we all face on a day to day basis, and on top of that she was dealing with major injuries and illnesses throughout her short life (she died in her 40s). Herrera seems to have a firm grasp on who Kahlo was as a person, although at times she judges Kahlo rather harshly, and in my opinion, without reason. There are just some things that Herrera could not have known, and jumping to conclusions about why Kahlo did certain things isn’t helpful or fair to anyone. I don’t read biographies very often, so maybe this is done frequently in the genre, but I didn’t appreciate it much. I prefer facts to the author’s opinion.
“Alas Rotas: The Diary of Frida Kahlo”
So after reading Frida’s biography, I read perhaps the most Frida-esque thing of all: her diary from the last ten years of her life. Filled with word associations, drawings, and letters to Diego or her lovers and friends that are pasted in, the diary is a direct passage into what she was feeling during the last years of her life. I say feeling, because there is no way to tell what she was thinking–true to being an artist, there aren’t many written passages describing what she was thinking or feeling, mainly just the drawings and sketches that she did. The diary comes with a translation and commentary in English for those who don’t read Spanish, and it was a privilege to be able to have a peek into her most intimate space, and at the same time truly heartbreaking, especially in the last pages as she realizes that she is dying. As she said on one of the last pages: “I hope the leaving is joyful, and I hope never to return.” I am including some of my favorite paintings of hers here, below.
