Zena Alkayat - Frida Kahlo: An Illustrated Biography

First published in the United States in 2016 by Chronicle Books LLC.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by Frances Lincoln Ltd.
Text copyright 2016 by Zena Alkayat.
Illustrations copyright 2016 by Nina Cosford.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-4521-5054-3 (epub2)
ISBN: 978-1-4521-6210-2 (epub3)
ISBN: 978-1-4521-6211-9 (mobi)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN: 978-1-4521-5023-9 (hc)

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

I paint myself because i am so often
alone, because i am the subject i know best.''

Frida Kahlo

MAGDALENA CARMEN FRIEDA KAHLO
Y CALDER O N WAS BORN ON JULY 6,
1907, IN THE HOUSE HER FATHER HAD
BUILT IN THE BARRIO OF COYOAC A N
IN MEXICO.

WILHELM KAHLO WAS A HUNGARIAN
GERMAN WHO EMIGRATED TO MEXICO
AGED NINETEEN AND CHANGED HIS
NAME TO GUILLERMO. HE MARRIED
MEXICAN MAR I A CARDENA IN 1894,
BUT SHE DIED, LEAVING BEHIND TWO
DAUGHTERS. THE YOUNG GIRLS
WERE PLACED IN A CONVENT. SOON
AFTER, GUILLERMO FELL IN LOVE
WITH FRIDA'S MOTHER,
MATILDE CALDER O N.

THE BEAUTIFUL MATILDE WAS
MESTIZA'' (FROM MIXED INDIGENOUS
AND SPANISH HERITAGE). SHE MADE A
FORMIDABLE HOUSEWIFE, MANAGING
THE FINANCES, TAKING THEIR
FOUR DAUGHTERS TO CHURCH, AND
TEACHING THEM TO COOK, SEW, AND
CLEAN. SHE EARNED THE TITLE OF
MY CHIEF'' FROM FRIDA.

FRIDA'S FATHER WAS A QUIET MAN
OF HABIT. HE HAD AN INTENSE GAZE
AND SERIOUS MANNER. HE PLAYED
THE PIANO, READ PHILOSOPHY, AND
PAINTED WATERCOLORS. TO MAKE
MONEY, HE SET UP A PHOTOGRAPHIC
STUDIO AND PRODUCED AN
ACCLAIMED PHOTO RECORD OF
MEXICO'S ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE.

AT SIX, FRIDA FELL ILL WITH POLIO.
SHE WAS CONFINED TO HER ROOM
FOR NINE MONTHS AND HER RIGHT
LEG WITHERED. TO HELP HER GAIN
STRENGTH, HER FATHER ENCOURAGED
HER TO TAKE UP SPORTS THAT WERE
USUALLY RESERVED FOR BOYS.

BUT DESPITE HER TOMBOY
ACTIVITIES, HER LEG REMAINED THIN
AND MISSHAPEN ALL HER LIFE.

FRIDA INHERITED HER FATHER'S
LOVE OF NATURE.

HE ENCOURAGED HER TO
EXPLORE HER LANDSCAPE.

GUILLERMO HAD HIGH HOPES FOR HIS
FAVORITE DAUGHTER, AND IN 1922 HE
ENROLLED HER IN THE PRESTIGIOUS
NATIONAL PREPARATORY SCHOOL.
OUT OF TWO-THOUSAND PUPILS,
FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD FRIDA WAS ONE
OF THIRTY-FIVE GIRLS. HER AIM WAS
TO REACH MEDICAL SCHOOL.

THE STUDENTS PLAYED AN ACTIVE
ROLE IN BUILDING A NEW MEXICO,
ONE THAT REJECTED THE PERVASIVE
EUROPEAN FASHIONS IN FAVOR
OF A RETURN TO THE COUNTRY'S
INDIGENOUS INDIAN CULTURE AND
A MORE AUTHENTIC MEXICANISM.''

AMONG THE SCHOOL'S CLIQUES,
FRIDA FELL IN WITH THE CACHUCHAS.
THEY WERE AN INTELLIGENT AND
DEEPLY MISCHIEVOUS BAND OF SEVEN
BOYS AND TWO GIRLS. AS A PRANK,
THE FRIENDS ONCE RODE A DONKEY
THROUGH THE SCHOOL'S HALLS.

MANY ARTISTS WERE INVITED TO
PAINT MURALS ON THE SCHOOL'S
WALLS, BUT DIEGO RIVERA WAS THE
MOST FAMOUS. THE CELEBRITY
MURALIST ARRIVED THE YEAR FRIDA
STARTED AND COULD OFTEN BE FOUND
ON A SCAFFOLD IN THE AUDITORIUM
WORKING ON HIS FRESCO.

YOUNG FRIDA WOULD WATCH THE
THIRTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD DIEGO WORK.
BUT IT WAS THE HANDSOME, CLEVER
ALEJANDRO G O MEZ ARIAS (A FELLOW
CACHUCHA) THAT STOLE HER HEART.
THE TEENAGERS ARRANGED SECRET
RENDEZVOUS, EXPLORED MEXICO
CITY STREETS, AND WROTE ARDENT
LOVE LETTERS TO EACH OTHER.

Alex, write to me soon and even if it's
not true, tell me that you love me very
much and that you can't live without me.''

Letter, 1924

ON SEPTEMBER 17, 1925,
FRIDA AND ALEJANDRO WERE
TRAVELING ON A BUS IN MEXICO
CITY WHEN IT COLLIDED WITH A
TRAM. THE TRAM SMASHED THROUGH
THE WOODEN BUS, KILLING MANY
IN ITS PATH. A HANDRAIL STABBED
THROUGH FRIDA FROM HER LEFT
TORSO TO HER PELVIS.

A PASSENGER'S PACKAGE OF
GOLD DUST BURST DURING THE
ACCIDENT AND FRIDA'S CLOTHES
WERE THROWN OFF IN THE COLLISION.
SHE LAY ON THE GROUND COVERED
IN BLOOD AND SHIMMERING WITH
GOLD. HER BODY WAS PIERCED,
FRACTURED, AND CRUSHED.

THE ACCIDENT TRANSFORMED
FRIDA. IT CLIPPED HER WINGS AND
SUBJECTED HER TO A LIFETIME OF
PAIN. IT LEFT HER AT THE MERCY
OF SURGEONS, ENCASED IN VARIOUS
PLASTER CASTS, AND HAUNTED BY
THOUGHTS OF DEATH.