Cano-Murillo Kathy - Forever Frida: a celebration of the life, art, loves, words, and style of Frida Kahlo

This book is dedicated to all the people who are inspired by Frida Kahlos creativity and passion. May we all unite to become a force of beauty, truth, love, and strength in this world.

And to Frida.

Muchas gracias, hermana. May you continue to rest in power, and most of all peace.

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First Adams Media hardcover edition July 2019

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Interior design by Sylvia McArdle

Interior images by Kathy Cano-Murillo and Getty Images, Wikimedia.org

Cover design by Katrina Machado

Cover art Wikimedia Commons/Guillermo Kahlo, Dinoraclecaransa; Getty Images/RedKoalaDesign, zzorik, SvitlanaMartyn, StellaLevi, Jobalou

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Cano-Murillo, Kathy, author.

Title: Forever Frida / Kathy Cano-Murillo.

Description: Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media, 2019.

Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019006901 | ISBN 9781507210116 (hc) | ISBN 9781507210123 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Kahlo, Frida. | Kahlo, Frida--Miscellanea.

Classification: LCC ND259.K33 C36 2019 | DDC 759.972--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019006901

ISBN 978-1-5072-1011-6

ISBN 978-1-5072-1012-3 (ebook)

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Simon & Schuster, Inc., was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

How does one truly capture everything about someone as complex as Frida Kahlo? As I worked on these pages, inhaled the air in Fridas bedroom at La Casa Azul, strolled the same streets she did in CoyoacnI asked her for her blessing.

The mainstream has made her an icon of mass consumerism and pop culture, a shero for many walks of life. I learned she was a woman with hopes, dreams, ambitions, and insecurities, just like so many of us. Her legacy defies labels. Frida didnt set out to change the world or be a poster girl for any cause. She wanted to give and receive love. When lifes tragedies attempted to knock her down, she fought back with her art, intellect, and sense of humor.

Frida still ignites a fire inside her admirersand even her critics, which Im sure would please her. For me, Frida represents being flawed, fearless, and fabulous.

Thank you to my editor, Cate Prato, and the team at Adams Media for this epic opportunity! Thank you to my husband, Patrick, for all his love and support; my amigas, The Phoenix Fridas; and Rose Mendoza of Dulce Vida Travel. Mil gracias to Omar Tadeo of Joyera MATL for all the wonderful stories about Frida and Diego, and to Janet Cantley of the Heard Museum for the resources. And most of all, thank you to all the Frida lovers out thereI hope you enjoy this book!

Lover. Painter. Fashionista. Rebel.

Mother to all living creatures.

Enhancer of life. Embracer of death.

Above all, Frida Kahlo was a visual storyteller. Her language of resiliency transcended words and phrases. She relayed her darkest thoughts and most painful experiences with the strokes of a paintbrush, journal sketches, and drawings. Childhood polio, schoolyard bullying, physical disabilities, love affairs, a cheating husband, strong political views, and most of all, a passion for knowledge, added up to a vibrant life documented in artful mastery.

During her forty-seven years on earth, Frida enamored most and frightened more than a few. She endured days of both beauty and agony and didnt hold back from sharing every incident. She embellished her reality the same way she did her oil paintings. She is the embodiment of love and the healing powers of self-expression.

Love for Mexico.

Love for mankind.

Love for nature.

Love for her body and soul.

Love for independent thinking.

Love for Diego.

This book is a love letter to Frida. Hear her voice in the carefully selected quotes. Feel her spirit in the entries about her life. This is a celebration of all her moments, big and small, that made an impact on the world.

Whether you are a man, woman, artist, pop culture aficionado, or fan of Mexican style, may you find joy, love, beauty, and spirit within these covers.

Viva Frida!

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.

F rida Kahlo entered the world on July 6, 1907, as Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Caldern. She was born inside her parents home, La Casa Azul, in Coyoacn, Mexico, and died there on July 13, 1954. Little did her father, Guillermo Kahlo, and her mother, Matilde Caldern y Gonzalez, know that Frida would trigger an artistic revolution for generations to come.

La Casa Azul.

Frida was introduced to physical ailments early in her life. As a child she often assisted her father on his extensive photo shoots, not knowing he suffered from epilepsy. That is, until she witnessed his seizures, which became daily occurrences. Although young and frightened, she had no choice but to come to Guillermos aid, as well as keep a close eye on his photo equipment so it would not be stolen.

Portrait by Guillermo Kahlo, 1926.

E ven before Fridas tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera, she was well versed in romantic scandals. On the night his first wife died giving birth to his child, Guillermo Kahlo proposed to Matilde Caldern, a woman he worked with at a jewelry store in Mexico. She accepted, even though she nursed a broken heart from the suicide of her former love. Once remarried, Kahlo sent his two children from his first marriage to be raised in a convent.