María Izquierdo (1902–1955) and Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) were the first two Mexican women artists to achieve international recognition. During the height of the Mexican muralist movement, they established successful careers as easel painters and created work that has become an integral part of Mexican modernism. Although the iconic Kahlo is now more famous, the two artists had comparable reputations during their lives. Both were regularly included in major exhibitions of Mexican art, and they were invariably the only women chosen for the most important professional activities and honors.
In a deeply informed study that prioritizes critical analysis over biographical interpretation, Nancy Deffebach places Kahlo’s and Izquierdo’s oeuvres in their cultural context, examining the ways in which the artists participated in the national and artistic discourses of postrevolutionary Mexico. Through iconographic analysis of paintings and themes within each ar
Trade Review
Deffebach's feminist critique of the Mexican avant-garde and her discussion of women's rights are valuable. * Latin American Research Review *
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part One: The Problem of the Hero
- 1. Women on the Wire: Izquierdo's Images of Female Circus Performers
- 2. Saints and Goddesses: Kahlo's Appropriations of Religious Iconography in Her Self-portraits
- Part Two: Legitimating Traditions
- 3. Revitalizing the Past: Precolumbian Figures from West Mexico in Kahlo’s Paintings
- 4. Kahlo's The Girl, the Moon and the Sun, 1942
- 5. Mother of the Maize: Izquierdo’s Images of Rural Gardens with Granaries
- Part Three: The Wall of Resistance
- 6. What Sex Is the City? Izquierdo's Aborted Mural Project
- Part Four: Still-Life Paintings
- 7. Picantes pero sabrosas: Kahlo’s Still-Life Paintings and Related Images
- 8. Grain of Memory: Izquierdo's Paintings of Altars to the Virgin of Sorrows
- Part Five: Women's Rights in Modern Mexico
- 9. Beyond the Canvas: Izquierdo, Kahlo, and Women’s Rights
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
