This illustrated journal spans the ten last tumultuous years of Frida Kahlo's life (1907-54). Written between 1944 and 1954, but left under lock and key in Mexico for almost half a century, it is an outstandingly important document to understand the complex personality of a woman who became a legend, both as an artist and as a model of femininity.
The 180 pages of the diary embody Frida’s innermost world, her thoughts, poems and dreams, and recount her powerful vision of the world, the courage with which she faced a life shattered by a tragic accident at 18, her stormy relationship with Diego Rivera, the 20th century’s most important Mexican artist. Notes handwritten in her full, round script using brilliant inks accompany the seventy exuberantly glowing watercolours, including numerous self-portraits. Frida’s diary belongs to the genre of the intimate journal, a private memoir written by a woman for herself, and not intended for the public. Precisely for this reason, it stirs the emotions of those who engage with the intimacy of a person who is being unwittingly observed. “An act of transgression, irreparably charged with voyeurism,” as Sarah Lowe writes in the critical essay accompanying the diary. The facsimile, complete and unabridged, is introduced by author Carlos Fuentes and includes an annotated translation in the appendix.