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The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait
An intimate self-portrait of one of the most renowned Mexican artists of the twentieth century, The Diary of Frida An Intimate Self-Portrait is “a visual document, engaging the eye with a volcanic profusion of penned-and-painted imagery” ( New York Times ).
Published in its entirety, Frida Kahlo’s amazing, illustrated journal documents the last 10 years of her turbulent life. These passionate, often surprising, intimate records, kept under lock and key for some 40 years in Mexico, reveal many new dimensions in the complex personal life of this remarkable artist.
The 170-page journal contains the artist’s thoughts, poems, and dreams—many reflecting her stormy relationship with her husband, artist Diego Rivera—along with 70 mesmerizing watercolor illustrations. Her views of love, politics, and more come into sharp focus in a kaleidoscope of creativity and thought.
In his introduction, award-winner Carlos Fuentes, one of Mexico’s most important writers and critics, ties Kahlo’s images of pain, loss, mutilation, and transcendence to Mexico’s historic cycles of revolution and reaction. Sprinkled with irony, black humor, even gaiety, and augmented with translations of the diary entries plus commentaries and photographs, her diary stands as a reminder of not only Kahlo’s formidable talent, but also her resilience and courage.
The text entries, written in Frida’s round, full script in brightly colored inks, make the journal as captivating to look at as it is to read. Her writing reveals the artist’s political sensibilities, recollections of her childhood, and her enormous courage in the face of more than 35 operations to correct injuries she had sustained in an accident at the age of 18.
This intimate portal into her life is sure to fascinate fans of the artist, art historians, and women’s culturalists alike.
Published in its entirety, Frida Kahlo’s amazing, illustrated journal documents the last 10 years of her turbulent life. These passionate, often surprising, intimate records, kept under lock and key for some 40 years in Mexico, reveal many new dimensions in the complex personal life of this remarkable artist.
The 170-page journal contains the artist’s thoughts, poems, and dreams—many reflecting her stormy relationship with her husband, artist Diego Rivera—along with 70 mesmerizing watercolor illustrations. Her views of love, politics, and more come into sharp focus in a kaleidoscope of creativity and thought.
In his introduction, award-winner Carlos Fuentes, one of Mexico’s most important writers and critics, ties Kahlo’s images of pain, loss, mutilation, and transcendence to Mexico’s historic cycles of revolution and reaction. Sprinkled with irony, black humor, even gaiety, and augmented with translations of the diary entries plus commentaries and photographs, her diary stands as a reminder of not only Kahlo’s formidable talent, but also her resilience and courage.
The text entries, written in Frida’s round, full script in brightly colored inks, make the journal as captivating to look at as it is to read. Her writing reveals the artist’s political sensibilities, recollections of her childhood, and her enormous courage in the face of more than 35 operations to correct injuries she had sustained in an accident at the age of 18.
This intimate portal into her life is sure to fascinate fans of the artist, art historians, and women’s culturalists alike.
296 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
About the author
Frida Kahlo
86 books1,021 followersMagdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderón was a Mexican painter, who has achieved great international popularity. She painted using vibrant colors in a style that was influenced by indigenous cultures of México as well as by European influences that include Realism, Symbolism, and Surrealism. Many of her works are self-portraits that symbolically express her own pain and sexuality.
In 1929 Kahlo married the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. They shared political views, and he encouraged her artistic endeavors. Although she has long been recognized as an important painter, public awareness of her work has become more widespread since the 1970. Her "Blue" house in Coyoacán, México City is a museum, donated by Diego Rivera upon his death in 1957.
In 1929 Kahlo married the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. They shared political views, and he encouraged her artistic endeavors. Although she has long been recognized as an important painter, public awareness of her work has become more widespread since the 1970. Her "Blue" house in Coyoacán, México City is a museum, donated by Diego Rivera upon his death in 1957.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 584 reviews
February 18, 2008
i took my time with frida's diary:
one. because the emotion she reached inside of me
felt raw and sometimes heavy
but
two. because i didn't want to come to its finish.
i'm slightly obsessed (proudly) with this woman
and find myself moved in ways that enrich my soul
every time i spend time with frida.
her love for life
her passion for love and connection
her desires for both the men and women
in her life
strike me in such a familiar way
that guide me in embracing my true nature.
her vulnerability created passion!
equaling a force few knew how to handle.
she's a sister
from another time.
one. because the emotion she reached inside of me
felt raw and sometimes heavy
but
two. because i didn't want to come to its finish.
i'm slightly obsessed (proudly) with this woman
and find myself moved in ways that enrich my soul
every time i spend time with frida.
her love for life
her passion for love and connection
her desires for both the men and women
in her life
strike me in such a familiar way
that guide me in embracing my true nature.
her vulnerability created passion!
equaling a force few knew how to handle.
she's a sister
from another time.
August 18, 2022
I thought I would really love THE DIARY OF FRIDA KAHLO, but I merely liked it. I had a couple issues with it.
To begin with, if you look at the front of this book, the only author listed is Frida Khalo. The other authors list themselves only in conjunction with the introduction. Imagine my surprise when I opened this book to discover that Fuentes not only translates into English all Kahlo's written notes, but also includes pages of "translation" through his own lenses of history and experience every single word that she writes.
Reading Fuentes's insights isn't a wholly negative experience, I found, but it does skew the encounter with Kahlo's very personal document. I do think this interference should be made clear to readers considering this book for purchase, for those individuals who don't want or need so much interpretation.
And also, because Fuentes needed space to provide his notes to accompany each of the pages, the book has an odd layout, with all the translations and "translations" lumped at the back of the book rather than facing each relevant page. This design makes the reading experience quite awkward.
Aside from these issues, I did love reading Frida's diary, as she is my favorite artist. Reading her diary inspired me, even despite the design issues, and I'm planning a project of my own around this reading. So excited!
Rating 3.5 stars
Finished August 2022
Recommended for artists; fans of art memoirs, Frida Kahlo, art journals; readers seeking diverse voices
✔️August Pick 5/10
✔️52 Book Club Summer Genre Challenge: Memoir/Biography
✔️52 Book Club 52 Book Challenge: involving the art world
*Follow my Instagram book blog for all my reviews, challenges, and book lists! http://www.instagram.com/donasbooks *
To begin with, if you look at the front of this book, the only author listed is Frida Khalo. The other authors list themselves only in conjunction with the introduction. Imagine my surprise when I opened this book to discover that Fuentes not only translates into English all Kahlo's written notes, but also includes pages of "translation" through his own lenses of history and experience every single word that she writes.
Reading Fuentes's insights isn't a wholly negative experience, I found, but it does skew the encounter with Kahlo's very personal document. I do think this interference should be made clear to readers considering this book for purchase, for those individuals who don't want or need so much interpretation.
And also, because Fuentes needed space to provide his notes to accompany each of the pages, the book has an odd layout, with all the translations and "translations" lumped at the back of the book rather than facing each relevant page. This design makes the reading experience quite awkward.
Aside from these issues, I did love reading Frida's diary, as she is my favorite artist. Reading her diary inspired me, even despite the design issues, and I'm planning a project of my own around this reading. So excited!
Rating 3.5 stars
Finished August 2022
Recommended for artists; fans of art memoirs, Frida Kahlo, art journals; readers seeking diverse voices
✔️August Pick 5/10
✔️52 Book Club Summer Genre Challenge: Memoir/Biography
✔️52 Book Club 52 Book Challenge: involving the art world
*Follow my Instagram book blog for all my reviews, challenges, and book lists! http://www.instagram.com/donasbooks *
February 2, 2020
Both the Introduction by Carlos Fuentes and Essay by Sarah M. Lowe that preface the diary entries are impressive. Frida Kahlo suffered much though her life - stricken by polio at seven, a bus accident where she broke her pelvis bone, spinal column, and had other serious injuries at 18 years old, over 20 operations, the affairs and divorce (then remarriage) of Diego Rivera, her inability to have children because of her injuries, and the eventual amputation of her leg. However, she loved life, painting, and Diego Rivera despite her pain and losses. For the last ten years of her life from 1944 - 1954, she kept a diary filled with her reflections and artwork. This is a complete full-color replica of her diary with color, ink blots, bleeding through pages, faded and vivid cursive writing, cross-outs, and remains of torn pages. At the end is an explanation and translation of her work. Her painted diary was intended to be private yet we see the “artist unmasked.” A fascinating insight into the workings of her mind in her final decade. Would this Mexican icon, who bared herself and her soul in her art, have wanted the world to know her innermost thoughts?
February 10, 2017
If you're about to read this expecting a traditional 'what I did today' -diary, you're in for a big surprise. Then again, if you already know Frida Kahlo you wouldn't really expect that, would you? Originally not intended to be published, through Kahlo's diary you get inside her head in the form of letters, notes, automatic writing and sketches. So much so, that you feel a bit rude for invading her thoughts. I don't claim to understand automatic writing, and even though Frida isn't a Surrealist, she occasionally seems to be using the same technique in her writings. I'm so far only visually into Surrealism, so for me those passages were the most difficult and confusing.
But in the whole, is the diary really meant to be understood by someone other than her? Frida's writings and pictures together create a beautiful chaos, that helps you get a little bit closer to her art. Even you didn't understand everything, you can still feel the emotions that Frida went through when her health slowly deteriorated, and the love she had for Diego and pre-Columbian symbolism and culture. If you already admire Frida's art, this is a must read and a real gem of a companion piece to her paintings.
I don't paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.
The book itself had a little problematic layout, because the explanations and translations are all stuffed into the back of the book, forcing you to flip through the pages. The Finnish translation also had quite a bit of problems in terms of spelling. Not a huge thing, but stuff like that always sticks out when it's repeated a few times.
But in the whole, is the diary really meant to be understood by someone other than her? Frida's writings and pictures together create a beautiful chaos, that helps you get a little bit closer to her art. Even you didn't understand everything, you can still feel the emotions that Frida went through when her health slowly deteriorated, and the love she had for Diego and pre-Columbian symbolism and culture. If you already admire Frida's art, this is a must read and a real gem of a companion piece to her paintings.
I don't paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.
The book itself had a little problematic layout, because the explanations and translations are all stuffed into the back of the book, forcing you to flip through the pages. The Finnish translation also had quite a bit of problems in terms of spelling. Not a huge thing, but stuff like that always sticks out when it's repeated a few times.
October 8, 2024
تا مدتها قرار نیست این حس رو فراموش کنم. این حس عشق و احترام و تحسین و حیرتی که از آشنا شدن با زندگی فریدا، خوندن دفتر خاطراتش، بررسی کردن نقاشیهاش و ساعتها حرف زدن و فکر کردن دربارش پیدا کردم.
زنی که زندگیش و افکارش و نقاشیهاش یه ترکیب جادویی از درد و قدرته. از رویا و حقیقت.
"I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I'm here, and I’m just as strange as you."
مقدمهای که کارلوس فوئنتس برای این کتاب نوشته، انقدر زیبا و قدرتمند بود که بنظرم یکبار خوندنش کافی نبود و هر جملهش رو میشد چندین بار خوند و فکر کرد.
"Frida Kahlo was more like a broken Cleopatra, hiding her tortured body, her shriveled leg, her broken foot, her orthopedic corsets, under the spectacular finery of the peasant women of Mexico, who for centuries jealously kept the ancient jewels hidden away, protected from poverty, to be displayed only at the great fiestas of the agrarian communities. The laces, the ribbons, the skirts, the rustling petticoats, the braids, the moonlike headdresses opening up her face like the wings of a dark butterfly: Frida Kahlo, showing us all that suffering could not wither, nor sickness stale, her infinite variety. "
دیدن صفحات واقعی دفتر خاطرات کالو، با همهی رنگها و خط خوردگیها و جملاتی که در هم فرو رفتهبودن، شوخیهای بامزهش و بازی کردنش با زبان اسپانیایی، جملاتی که پر از درد و عشق بودن، حسش به همسرش دییگو ریورا و نقاشیهای شخصی پر از جزئیاتش، باعث شد حس کنم این زن رو از نزدیک میشناختم و ساعتها باهاش همنشین بودم.
"Nobody will ever know how much I love Diego. I don ’t want anything to hurt him. nothing to bother him or to sap the energy that he needs to live - To live the way he feels better. Painting, seeing, loving, eating, sleeping, feeling lonely, feeling accompanied - but I never want him to be sad and if I had my health I’d like to give it all to him if I had my youth he could have it all. I'm not just your — mother — I am the embryo, the germ, the first cell which — potentially — engendered him - I am him from the most primitive . . . and the most ancient cells, that with time became him what do the “scientists” say about this?"
"Why do I call him my Diego? He never was or will be mine. He belongs to himself. "
"Diego beginning
Diego builder
Diego my child
Diego my boyfriend
Diego painter
Diego my lover
Diego “my husband”
Diego my friend
Diego my mother
Diego my father
Diego my son
Diego me
Diego Universe"
داخل کتاب، علاوه بر اینکه صفحات دفتر خاطرات کالو رو میتونیم ببینیم (البته به جز اونهایی که احتمالا توسط دیگو از دفتر کنده شدن)، ترجمهی انگلیسی و یه تحلیلی هم از نقاشیها و نوشته ها وجود داره، که کمککننده بودن اما خیلی جاها احساس میکردم امکان نداره بتونیم عمیقترین و شخصیترن افکار یکنفر رو تحلیل کنیم، در حالیکه اصلا برای ما نوشته نشدن!
بنظرم ما فقط میتونیم نظارهگر باشیم، نظارهگر تصاویر و کلمات فریدا، نظارهگر انسانی که بود، کارهایی که کرد و آثاری که از خودش به جا گذاشت.
"While death tiptoed towards her, she dressed in full regalia to lie in bed and paint. “I am not sick,” she would write. “I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.” But as death approaches, the tone changes. “You are killing yourself,” she realizes, as drugs and alcohol both alleviate and condemn her increasingly. But she quickly adds: “There are those who will no longer forget you. . . .”
Yes, dear Frida, you will not be forgotten.♡
زنی که زندگیش و افکارش و نقاشیهاش یه ترکیب جادویی از درد و قدرته. از رویا و حقیقت.
"I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I'm here, and I’m just as strange as you."
مقدمهای که کارلوس فوئنتس برای این کتاب نوشته، انقدر زیبا و قدرتمند بود که بنظرم یکبار خوندنش کافی نبود و هر جملهش رو میشد چندین بار خوند و فکر کرد.
"Frida Kahlo was more like a broken Cleopatra, hiding her tortured body, her shriveled leg, her broken foot, her orthopedic corsets, under the spectacular finery of the peasant women of Mexico, who for centuries jealously kept the ancient jewels hidden away, protected from poverty, to be displayed only at the great fiestas of the agrarian communities. The laces, the ribbons, the skirts, the rustling petticoats, the braids, the moonlike headdresses opening up her face like the wings of a dark butterfly: Frida Kahlo, showing us all that suffering could not wither, nor sickness stale, her infinite variety. "
دیدن صفحات واقعی دفتر خاطرات کالو، با همهی رنگها و خط خوردگیها و جملاتی که در هم فرو رفتهبودن، شوخیهای بامزهش و بازی کردنش با زبان اسپانیایی، جملاتی که پر از درد و عشق بودن، حسش به همسرش دییگو ریورا و نقاشیهای شخصی پر از جزئیاتش، باعث شد حس کنم این زن رو از نزدیک میشناختم و ساعتها باهاش همنشین بودم.
"Nobody will ever know how much I love Diego. I don ’t want anything to hurt him. nothing to bother him or to sap the energy that he needs to live - To live the way he feels better. Painting, seeing, loving, eating, sleeping, feeling lonely, feeling accompanied - but I never want him to be sad and if I had my health I’d like to give it all to him if I had my youth he could have it all. I'm not just your — mother — I am the embryo, the germ, the first cell which — potentially — engendered him - I am him from the most primitive . . . and the most ancient cells, that with time became him what do the “scientists” say about this?"
"Why do I call him my Diego? He never was or will be mine. He belongs to himself. "
"Diego beginning
Diego builder
Diego my child
Diego my boyfriend
Diego painter
Diego my lover
Diego “my husband”
Diego my friend
Diego my mother
Diego my father
Diego my son
Diego me
Diego Universe"
داخل کتاب، علاوه بر اینکه صفحات دفتر خاطرات کالو رو میتونیم ببینیم (البته به جز اونهایی که احتمالا توسط دیگو از دفتر کنده شدن)، ترجمهی انگلیسی و یه تحلیلی هم از نقاشیها و نوشته ها وجود داره، که کمککننده بودن اما خیلی جاها احساس میکردم امکان نداره بتونیم عمیقترین و شخصیترن افکار یکنفر رو تحلیل کنیم، در حالیکه اصلا برای ما نوشته نشدن!
بنظرم ما فقط میتونیم نظارهگر باشیم، نظارهگر تصاویر و کلمات فریدا، نظارهگر انسانی که بود، کارهایی که کرد و آثاری که از خودش به جا گذاشت.
"While death tiptoed towards her, she dressed in full regalia to lie in bed and paint. “I am not sick,” she would write. “I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.” But as death approaches, the tone changes. “You are killing yourself,” she realizes, as drugs and alcohol both alleviate and condemn her increasingly. But she quickly adds: “There are those who will no longer forget you. . . .”
Yes, dear Frida, you will not be forgotten.♡
November 24, 2011
I really didn't enjoy this book. I thought it was going to be a basic translated version of Frida Kahlo's diary with a brief introduction of some kind about her and her life, It isn't. This book begins with a long larbourious introduction which, I felt, at times strays completely from Kahlo and can be very hard to follow. And then there is a full essay on the contents and format of Kahlo's diary. So before you get to view any of her work or her thoughts you've already been pounded with what two other people think about her and the diary itself. Then you have the diary which is in full colour and detail (the only good bit of this book) But the way the translation have been done is really awkward in as much as all the translation are grouped together at the end of the book with the commenttary of the person who did the introduction. So intead of having the diary on one page and the translation on the opposite page so that you could glance and compare between the two with ease, you have to flick back and forth to find the right translation for the right page while also figuring out what is the direct translation of Kahlo's word and what are actually the opinions and thoughts of someone else that have been put in there already. I felt like I had no space ''reading'' this book. I didn't enjoy it. there is a relatively simple timeline at the end of the book which I though was interesting but other then that not much else . The book disects every part of Frida Kahlo leaving no space for you have have your own thoughts, feelings or discoveries. Love Frida, Hated the book.
May 3, 2012
This is a facsimile of Frida Kahlo's diary, so of course it is awesome. 4 instead of 5 stars for bad layout decisions. I can kind of understand why, for example, all of the translation is at the end of the book, so as not to interrupt the flow of the diary itself, but it could have been done more elegantly so that it's not so hard to find the translation of the page you're looking at. A better option might have been to have all the commentary and translation in a separate volume, and/or make some kind of online component to go with the diary now that we live in the future. Color coded page edges? Really, anything would be better than how it's laid out now. But, when you get down to it, complaining about having to flip pages back and forth is what I think some might call a "first world problem." It doesn't ruin the experience, just makes it clunky.
July 9, 2024
يوميات امرأة محطمة، ممزقة، كانت أكثر من أي فنان معذب في وقتها، ترجمت الألم إلى الفن وعانت من اثنتين وثلاثين عملية بين يوم الحادثة حتى يوم موتها.
رأت نفسها مضطرة بدءا من عام ١٩٤٤ لتستخدم ثمانية مشدات مختلفة، وفي عام ١٩٥٣ عانت من بتر قدمها المصابة بالغرغرينا، وإفرازات ظهرها الجريح.
مذكراتها مؤلمة ورسوماتها المرفقة في الكتاب عبارة عن تسعة وعشرين عاما من الألم المتواصل.. إنها الرسامة العالمية فريدا كالو ورحلتها مع المعاناة.
رأت نفسها مضطرة بدءا من عام ١٩٤٤ لتستخدم ثمانية مشدات مختلفة، وفي عام ١٩٥٣ عانت من بتر قدمها المصابة بالغرغرينا، وإفرازات ظهرها الجريح.
مذكراتها مؤلمة ورسوماتها المرفقة في الكتاب عبارة عن تسعة وعشرين عاما من الألم المتواصل.. إنها الرسامة العالمية فريدا كالو ورحلتها مع المعاناة.
Read
September 23, 2009in prep for my trip to Casa Azul....and because Frida is...Frida.
August 9, 2011
Frida Kahlo's diary is worth the read. It contains sketches that thematically connect to her paintings that are far more well know, however the texture and raw quality is quite different. You see her process and even for an artist who was so revealing in her work, there is more to see here! Reading this diary in the context of todays art world, where a sketch can be considered fine art, shows how timeless and relevant her work is.
April 29, 2018
The artwork and her loopy, free, slightly messy handwriting makes this book truly inspiring.
Essays and commentary are included with the translations.
Essays and commentary are included with the translations.
January 12, 2018
Lendo este diário pude entender porque alguns são relutantes em aceitar Kahlo como ícone feminista, o caso é que a relação dela com Diego Rivera beirava à patologia, quer dizer, o tipo de paixão que ela sentia e demonstrava por Diego são comuns em garotas de 20 anos e aqui ela estava por volta dos 40 e soa como uma dependência emocional particularmente doentia partindo de uma mulher adulta.
Por outro lado, tirando essa questão desconcertante, ela ainda é um ícone feminista por sua resiliência perante tantas intempéries da ordem física e emocional, e a partir de todo esse sofrimento ela soube transformá-lo em arte, esta imensamente bem representada neste diário que teve toda sua magnitude editorial preservada nessa linda edição brasileira.
Por outro lado, tirando essa questão desconcertante, ela ainda é um ícone feminista por sua resiliência perante tantas intempéries da ordem física e emocional, e a partir de todo esse sofrimento ela soube transformá-lo em arte, esta imensamente bem representada neste diário que teve toda sua magnitude editorial preservada nessa linda edição brasileira.
November 5, 2024
I started reading this on January 3 and now eleven months later I started over and am going to get down to business and actually reading it.
I really enjoyed reading her diary even though I felt like I was being intrusive. So many emotions looking at her jottings and drawings. She really suffered and her paintings have so much feeling in them.
I really enjoyed reading her diary even though I felt like I was being intrusive. So many emotions looking at her jottings and drawings. She really suffered and her paintings have so much feeling in them.
January 25, 2021
If you love Frida Kahlo, this book will be a beautiful addition to your collection.
July 23, 2013
"PAREJA EXTRAÑA DEL PAÍS DEL PUNTO Y LA RAYA"
Halagos sobran para este magnifico libro, es toda una obra de arte hecha por la increíble Frida.
Empezando por la bellísima edición: esa imagen en la sobrecubierta, ésa que tanto significo para su autora, igualmente hermosa la portada, forrada en tela roja, una edición digna de un libro tan magnífico.
La entrañable introducción hecha por Carlos Fuentes te transporta al mundo de la pintora, te muestra un poco de su historia, sus logros, amores y desamores.
En seguida, el facsímil del íntimo diario de Frida, en el cual se puede apreciar su increíble mentalidad surrealista, mediante dibujos, pinturas, cartas, poemas o palabras escritas sin ningún sentido, pero con gran significado para ella.
Personalmente, puedo decir que es el libro más inspirador que han tocado mis manos, pues al leer las cartas que ella hacía para Diego, su amado Diego, es inevitable sentir la necesidad de escribir, además, que gracias a la forma de pensar de Frida, que es muy clara a lo largo de las páginas, ella misma parece que te alienta a hacerlo.
Si, este libro es hermoso, perfecto, pero más que eso, al menos a mi me dejó un gran mensaje, empezando por el amor poco correspondido hacia Diego, sus ideales, y la despreocupación de lo que pudiesen opinar de ella, creo que cinco estrellas no reflejan la maravilla que es este diario.
Éste libro no es para acabarlo y ponerlo en el librero, es para aquellos días de tristeza, de soledad, de reflexión, tomarlo, abrirlo leerlo, y sentir, sólo sentir.
June 6, 2017
Although she begins this diary at the age of 37-ish,
(the first date of entry is not clear) ~
it seems that because of everything that has suddenly happened physically
& emotionally to her, that now ~~she will document things.
And, of course, Frida will journal in her own artistic way.
Some may find it difficult to read, because of the language barrier,
because of her honesty in her pain & rage & beeeecause the love that did not die &
because we see & feel the sadness that this love wrought upon her.
I lost myself in the Spanish.
Her words ring so beautifully.
I kept re reading & repeating outloud:
'Se equivocó la paloma - Se equivocaba ~~~ '
By the time she writes this, she has now lost her right foot
to the gangrene that continued to plague her for years.
Now the foot must come away.
She draws images of the foot.
The sore marked foot, the leg attached to the foot that keeps it attached to her body.
And then the foot alone.
Blood. Pain. Casts.
A painting of her body wrapped, wrapped & simply one belt holding this all together.
And so she paints:
Images of a body broken through out the diary.
Images of the beautiful moment that is life through out her diary.
Water. Horse. Dogs. Birds.
Words to Diego, who we know has gone.
Words of love - that show how much this love is still real for her.
Pain. Emotional. Physical.
It is not a conventional journal.
It is rife with emotion.
Frida's emotion.
It is difficult to read, but the pages are so colourful.
Her words never lose their courage nor strength.
She remains Frida Kahlo.
She is self aware of her own importance & so she continues
even in illness & pain to create.
I read this with a touch of sadness, she should have lived to be 90 or 100.
She would have continued to create.
She would know her place in the world that is ART & she would know of her importance in this world.
She would never doubt it.
This is an excellent companion to those who love Ms. Kahlo.
Carlos Fuentes does an excellent job. He translates for those who need it.
So.... read this book.
And I quote from page 287
" Few artists have had the audacity to picture their own departure from this world,
but then few faced death on so regular a basis.
Never had the often-quoted statement by Kahlo seemed more appropriate:
" I never painted dreams ~~~~ I painted my own reality "
~~☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~
~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~
(the first date of entry is not clear) ~
it seems that because of everything that has suddenly happened physically
& emotionally to her, that now ~~she will document things.
And, of course, Frida will journal in her own artistic way.
Some may find it difficult to read, because of the language barrier,
because of her honesty in her pain & rage & beeeecause the love that did not die &
because we see & feel the sadness that this love wrought upon her.
I lost myself in the Spanish.
Her words ring so beautifully.
I kept re reading & repeating outloud:
'Se equivocó la paloma - Se equivocaba ~~~ '
By the time she writes this, she has now lost her right foot
to the gangrene that continued to plague her for years.
Now the foot must come away.
She draws images of the foot.
The sore marked foot, the leg attached to the foot that keeps it attached to her body.
And then the foot alone.
Blood. Pain. Casts.
A painting of her body wrapped, wrapped & simply one belt holding this all together.
And so she paints:
Images of a body broken through out the diary.
Images of the beautiful moment that is life through out her diary.
Water. Horse. Dogs. Birds.
Words to Diego, who we know has gone.
Words of love - that show how much this love is still real for her.
Pain. Emotional. Physical.
It is not a conventional journal.
It is rife with emotion.
Frida's emotion.
It is difficult to read, but the pages are so colourful.
Her words never lose their courage nor strength.
She remains Frida Kahlo.
She is self aware of her own importance & so she continues
even in illness & pain to create.
I read this with a touch of sadness, she should have lived to be 90 or 100.
She would have continued to create.
She would know her place in the world that is ART & she would know of her importance in this world.
She would never doubt it.
This is an excellent companion to those who love Ms. Kahlo.
Carlos Fuentes does an excellent job. He translates for those who need it.
So.... read this book.
And I quote from page 287
" Few artists have had the audacity to picture their own departure from this world,
but then few faced death on so regular a basis.
Never had the often-quoted statement by Kahlo seemed more appropriate:
" I never painted dreams ~~~~ I painted my own reality "
~~☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~
~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~ ☆~~~~~
May 22, 2019
I have conflicted feelings about this one. Frida Kahlo kept a illustrated diary for the last ten years of her life. She also kept it locked up and private. Yet, here it is in the hands of the public - people she didn't even know. Is that not an invasion of privacy? And yet, I'm so glad this exists and is available for us to flip through. Like I said, I'm conflicted about this one.
What I am not conflicted about is how lovely this book is. The production, color, and paper quality are all superb. Many have complained about how the book is laid out, but I think it was done just right. Yes, you have to flip back and forth between her diary pages, and the translations and commentary in the back, but that also enables you to see how her actual diary looked in its entirety - albeit with some pages clearly torn out.
Unlike diarists who write for public consumption, this was a private one, so much of it makes no sense to the reader, and that is as it should be. The commentary does a good job of giving us context and connecting dots, but we are not Frida so cannot really understand all that we see and read. She was a remarkable woman and artist, and to get the opportunity to flip through a copy of her journal is a gift. With sincerest apologies to Ms. Kahlo.
What I am not conflicted about is how lovely this book is. The production, color, and paper quality are all superb. Many have complained about how the book is laid out, but I think it was done just right. Yes, you have to flip back and forth between her diary pages, and the translations and commentary in the back, but that also enables you to see how her actual diary looked in its entirety - albeit with some pages clearly torn out.
Unlike diarists who write for public consumption, this was a private one, so much of it makes no sense to the reader, and that is as it should be. The commentary does a good job of giving us context and connecting dots, but we are not Frida so cannot really understand all that we see and read. She was a remarkable woman and artist, and to get the opportunity to flip through a copy of her journal is a gift. With sincerest apologies to Ms. Kahlo.
February 14, 2021
كتاب غريب عجيب عبارة عن رسومات غريبة ومش مفهومة وشرح للرسومات دي بشكل أكثر غرابة وترجمة لليوميات بشكل سيء أو هي الكلمات أصلًا مش مفهومة وحاجة في منتهى الولا حاجة ومعرفش أنا إيه اللي جابني هنا أصلًا 😌😄
النجمة للمعلومات اللي ف آخر الكتاب وبعض الحاجات اللي فهمتها 🙈
النجمة للمعلومات اللي ف آخر الكتاب وبعض الحاجات اللي فهمتها 🙈
March 15, 2007
This book is amazing. The haunting images alone are worth it (It's Kahlo, for god's sake!) and there's an English language translation of the text included.
January 27, 2019
"I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality."
October 20, 2020
تقول فريدا كالو "أنا لم أرسم أحلامي البتّة. فقط كنت أرسم حياتي"
يوميات لا يسعك بعد قراءتها إلا أن تقول يال الحزن الشفيف!
يوميات لا يسعك بعد قراءتها إلا أن تقول يال الحزن الشفيف!
October 10, 2020
He tardado unos días en poder asimilar el contenido de este diario, pero sé que me queda tiempo para asimilar lo mucho que me ha cambiado conocer a fondo a Frida Kahlo.
Me encontraba mediante un proceso creativo teatral en el cual hablábamos de su arte, de sus creencias pero sobretodo de su vida. Una vida cargada de horrores, de pesadillas y de accidentes. Y aún así, Frida siempre encontró la manera de encontrar un refugio en su arte y en la lucha política y social en la que se encontraba México en esos momentos.
Frida, me parece que la humanidad nunca te va a poder compensar por todo el dolor y penas que sufriste, pero conocer tu historia puede cambiar - aunque sea un poquito - el corazón de cada uno. Me has cambiado, he sentido y he evolucionado contigo. Aún estando tan lejos, te llevaré siempre muy cerca.
Me encontraba mediante un proceso creativo teatral en el cual hablábamos de su arte, de sus creencias pero sobretodo de su vida. Una vida cargada de horrores, de pesadillas y de accidentes. Y aún así, Frida siempre encontró la manera de encontrar un refugio en su arte y en la lucha política y social en la que se encontraba México en esos momentos.
Frida, me parece que la humanidad nunca te va a poder compensar por todo el dolor y penas que sufriste, pero conocer tu historia puede cambiar - aunque sea un poquito - el corazón de cada uno. Me has cambiado, he sentido y he evolucionado contigo. Aún estando tan lejos, te llevaré siempre muy cerca.
March 18, 2012
There are no words to describe how important this book is to me. I regularly visit the pages of Frida Kahlo's diary for inspiration and deeper insight into my own life and perspective of the world. Some pages are heartbreaking and some are joyous, but it is all TRUE and that's the biggest teaching, here. I also learned to embrace the bleeding through of pages, when working in journals. "Messy" is inspiring and beautiful!
February 16, 2018
امرأة حملت لواء الأنوثة بقدم مشلولة وحاجبين كثيفين كأنهما شاربان فوق عينيها وجسد ممدد على السرير، فن في لوحات من حبر ودم على قطعة قماش، فمرة ترسم الحب ومرة ترسم الكره والألم فيما يسمى بعبقرية نقل الواقع بعيدا عن الرسم الحالم. تجربة إنسانية مؤلمة لكنها تحولت إلى فن
November 14, 2021
fascinujúce preniknutie do vnútra Fridy Kahlo, ale škoda toho infantilného prekladu a kniha by si zaslúžila lepšiu kurátorskú starostlivosť (štruktúra výstavby textu a koncept využitia doplňujúcich obrazových materiálov)
Read
July 17, 2023Beautifully intimate, felt a bit intrusive. If someone did this to me id kms. Only criticism is ab the commentry done along the translation. had some subjective moments. chill out sarah and just give the basic context
August 22, 2016
I devoured this book and will continue to devour it for years to come. The introduction by Carlos Fuentes is challenging but worth putting in the effort to read twice-thrice to really understand it. The faithful reproductions of the pages from Kahlo's diary--an art journal before there was such a trend!--through to bled-through inks and coffee stains are PHENOMENAL. The back end of the book contains translations of the pages--which is a great aid for non-Spanish readers--and contextualizations, which, em, I don't know--in some cases, I could have done without.
Regardless: I adore this book. The person who gifted it to me has my eternal gratitude. If you are looking for a gift for a Kahlo lover, this is perfect.
And if you love Kahlo... you already own it yourself, don't you?
Regardless: I adore this book. The person who gifted it to me has my eternal gratitude. If you are looking for a gift for a Kahlo lover, this is perfect.
And if you love Kahlo... you already own it yourself, don't you?
July 16, 2018
I don't know why, but Frida didn't attracted me too enough as an artist. I'd prefer Diego Rivera's work.
July 30, 2024
viva frida! long live the revolution!
fuck diego rivera.
fuck diego rivera.
January 14, 2020
The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait is a fascinating, sad, sober, amazing look into the mind of Frida Kahlo. The introduction by Carlos Fuentes is a poetic overview of her life, written possibly more for artists or students of art than the general reader. Even so, I recommend reading it.
The bulk of this very heavy hardcover book are color photographs/reproduction of Kahlo’s diary. Most of the entries are not dated and her entries are sporadic. The last 40 pages or so are the English translations of her entries as well as an explanation of the Aztec images and symbolism Kahlo liked to employ. Sarah Lowe, who also has an essay in the book, provides the written discussion about the diary texts and images. Kahlo sketched and painted many images on the pages of her diary and many are startling, beautiful, unsettling and disturbing. Kahlo is a woman who painted her own physical disintegration and the pictures in the diary may have been the last paintings she ever did, paintings of her own death.
If you are at all interested in the life and art of Frida Kahlo, I highly recommend this. Even though I have read a number of books about her and have been lucky enough to see her paintings at two traveling expeditions (Philadelphia Museum of Art and the AGO in Toronto), this book greatly expanded my appreciation of the woman and her art.
The bulk of this very heavy hardcover book are color photographs/reproduction of Kahlo’s diary. Most of the entries are not dated and her entries are sporadic. The last 40 pages or so are the English translations of her entries as well as an explanation of the Aztec images and symbolism Kahlo liked to employ. Sarah Lowe, who also has an essay in the book, provides the written discussion about the diary texts and images. Kahlo sketched and painted many images on the pages of her diary and many are startling, beautiful, unsettling and disturbing. Kahlo is a woman who painted her own physical disintegration and the pictures in the diary may have been the last paintings she ever did, paintings of her own death.
If you are at all interested in the life and art of Frida Kahlo, I highly recommend this. Even though I have read a number of books about her and have been lucky enough to see her paintings at two traveling expeditions (Philadelphia Museum of Art and the AGO in Toronto), this book greatly expanded my appreciation of the woman and her art.
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