69. Kahlo by Andrea Kettenmann

ISBN 3-8228-5983-4 - Taschen, 2003
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) is probably best known for her exotic looking self portraits frequently in traditional Mexican dress with braided hair, like this one on the book's cover. This is because more than half of her works were self-portraits. When asked why this was the case, Kahlo replied, " I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best."
Her tempestuous marriage to muralist Diego Rivera and ill health due to a traumatic bus accident and polio contracted in childhood have lead Kettenmann to subtitle the book Pain and Passion .