Few painters have been as celebrated as Frida Kahlo—so much so, in fact, that she has become a pop culture icon, often to the detriment of her real achievements as a painter. With striking full-page reproductions and detail views, this book from a leading Kahlo scholar looks past the hype to focus on her art. Helga Prignitz-Poda offers illuminating connections between the artist's life and work, with observations about the role of physical and mental suffering in her creative process. She explores Kahlo's mastery and reinvention of European traditions, as well as the wealth of coded and metaphorical elements hidden in so much of her work.