Author Guide ·

Books Written by Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was primarily a painter, not a writer, but for the last ten years of her life she kept an illustrated diary in colored inks — part confession, part sketchbook, part running argument with her own pain. She never intended it for publication. Kahlo survived childhood polio and a near-fatal bus accident at eighteen that left her with lifelong injuries, more than 30 surgeries, and the physical suffering that runs through nearly all of her paintings. She married and divorced and remarried the muralist Diego Rivera, was openly bisexual at a time when that was genuinely dangerous to say out loud, and died in 1954 at 47. Her diary stayed locked away for roughly 40 years before finally appearing in print in 1995. It remains the only book she ever published.

“Feet, what do I need you for, if I have wings to fly?”— Frida Kahlo, diary entry, 1953

By Lisanne Swart · 1 book · Diary & Memoir · Memoirs & Biographies · Female Authors · Death · Updated July 2026

Quick Facts
  • BookThe Diary of Frida Kahlo (1995)
  • Introduction byCarlos Fuentes
  • Covers1944–1954, her final decade
01

Diary · Illustrated MemoirCore book

The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait

Frida Kahlo, introduction by Carlos Fuentes · 1995 · Harry N. Abrams · 170 pages · ISBN 978-0-8109-5954-5

A full-color facsimile of the illustrated diary Kahlo kept in secret during the final decade of her life, from 1944 until her death in 1954. Written in her round, colorful script and filled with roughly 70 watercolor illustrations, the diary moves between poetry, political reflection, meditations on color and pain, and her tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera. Kept locked away for nearly 40 years, it was published in its entirety for the first time in 1995, with an introduction by the celebrated Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes.

This is as close as most readers will ever get to Kahlo’s unfiltered inner voice — not a book she shaped for an audience, but a private record she never expected anyone else to see. Read it as a visual and emotional document rather than a conventional memoir; entire pages contain no words at all, and the images carry as much weight as the text.

A note on this page

Frida Kahlo published one book. Some of her personal letters have also been collected and published separately in smaller editions, including correspondence with her physician, Dr. Leo Eloesser, but these are less widely available than the diary and aren’t included here as standalone entries.

If you want more of Kahlo’s own words
→ The diary is the fullest available record. Biographies like Hayden Herrera’s Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo also reproduce excerpts from her letters alongside biographical narrative, if you want more context around the diary itself.

If pain, illness, and the body in art and writing are what draw you here
→ My best books about death list has more writers working through similar territory.

If it’s women’s diaries, letters, and first-person accounts you want more of
→ My books by female authors list and my best memoirs and biographies list both have more of the same.

Frida Kahlo in her own home

Kahlo was never recorded giving a spoken interview. This is rare color home-movie footage of her and Diego Rivera at their home in Coyoacán, filmed circa the 1940s — the closest thing to seeing her in motion.

Looking for what else I recommend
→ Every book I’ve personally reviewed lives on my bookshelf.

Frequently asked questions about Frida Kahlo

Who is Frida Kahlo?
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter, born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón in 1907, best known for her surreal, deeply personal self-portraits exploring pain, identity, and Mexican culture. In 1995, her private illustrated diary was published as The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait, which remains her only published book.
When and where was Frida Kahlo born?
Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico. She later claimed 1910 as her birth year, to align herself symbolically with the start of the Mexican Revolution.
How did Frida Kahlo die?
Frida Kahlo died on July 13, 1954, at La Casa Azul, her family home in Coyoacán, Mexico City, at the age of 47. Her official cause of death was recorded as a pulmonary embolism, though no autopsy was performed and some biographers have speculated about a possible intentional overdose; this has never been confirmed.
Was Frida Kahlo married to Diego Rivera?
Yes. Frida Kahlo married Mexican muralist Diego Rivera in 1929. They divorced in 1939 and remarried in 1940, remaining married until Kahlo’s death in 1954. Their relationship was famously turbulent, marked by mutual infidelity on both sides.
Was Frida Kahlo bisexual?
Yes. Frida Kahlo was openly bisexual and had relationships with women, including reported affairs with performer Josephine Baker and singer Chavela Vargas, alongside her marriage to Diego Rivera, who was aware of and generally tolerant of her relationships with women.
What happened to Frida Kahlo as a child, and in the bus accident?
Frida Kahlo contracted polio around age six, which left her right leg thinner and weaker than her left. At 18, she was severely injured in a bus accident that fractured her spine, pelvis, collarbone, and ribs, and impaled her abdomen; the injury caused lifelong pain, more than 30 surgeries over her life, and the miscarriages she later depicted in her paintings.
What is The Diary of Frida Kahlo about?
The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait is a facsimile publication of the illustrated diary Kahlo kept during the last ten years of her life, from 1944 to 1954. It combines handwritten text in colored inks with roughly 70 watercolor illustrations, touching on her physical pain, her relationship with Diego Rivera, her political views, and her fascination with pre-Columbian Mexican mythology. It was not intended for publication and was locked away for roughly 40 years before appearing in print in 1995.
Did Frida Kahlo write any other books?
No. Kahlo was primarily a painter, and The Diary of Frida Kahlo is her only book-length published work. She also wrote extensive personal letters, some of which have been collected and published separately in smaller, less widely available editions, including correspondence with her physician, Dr. Leo Eloesser.
What is Frida Kahlo known for?
Frida Kahlo is known for her surreal, deeply personal self-portraits, which explore physical pain, identity, gender, and Mexican culture and folk tradition. She painted about 143 works in her lifetime, roughly a third of them self-portraits, and her paintings frequently reference her injuries, miscarriages, and her relationship with Diego Rivera.
Did Frida Kahlo have children?
No. Frida Kahlo never had children. She suffered several miscarriages, a consequence of the injuries from her 1925 bus accident, and depicted this loss directly in paintings such as Henry Ford Hospital.
Is Frida Kahlo still alive?
No. Frida Kahlo died on July 13, 1954, at the age of 47. She would be well over 100 years old today.
What is Frida Kahlo’s most famous painting?
Frida Kahlo’s most widely recognized painting is The Two Fridas (1939), though Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940) and The Broken Column (1944) are also among her most reproduced works.
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