The diary of Frida Kahlo

Hidden for some 40 years in Mexico and rarely seen, Frida Kahlo's journal documents the last ten years of her turbulent life. The passionate illustrated personal record reveals a new dimension in the complex persona of the Mexican artist. The journal, covering the years 1944-1954, contains Kahlo's thoughts, poems and dreams, and often chronicles her stormy relationship with her husband, Diego Rivera, one of Mexico's most famous artists. The 70 watercolour illustrations in the journal - some lively sketches and costume designs, others complete paintings - offer revelations about the artist and the creative process, and show that she often used the journal to work out pictorial ideas that later found their way into her larger canvases. The recurring theme of Kahlo's childhood and her dreams, her political sensiblities, and her obsession with Diego are all illuminated in poetic phrases and haunting images. The book includes an essay on Kahlo by Sarah M. Lowe.