[London, October 21. Image via Getty]

A gallery assistant looks at a portrait of Frida Kahlo by Mexican artist Diego Rivera entitled 'Nude with beads' during the press view of the 'Revolution on Paper' exhibition at the British Museum, in London, on October 21, 2009. The display of Mexican prints is the first in Europe focusing on Mexican printmaking in the first half of the twentieth century. Through this period, the country faced socialist revolution with artists promoting the values of the revolution in poster artwork. The exhibition runs from October 22, 2009 to April 5, 2010. AFP PHOTO/Leon Neal (Photo credit should read Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

Finding Frida Kahlo is scheduled for publication on November 1st, the New York Times reports. But Mexican prosecutors are trying to halt publication, saying it will be damaging to Kahlo's legacy to have the false materials published. They claim that these items may be interesting, but they were never Kahlo's possessions or creations.

Art and antiques dealer Carlos Noyola, who owns the collection, admits it has yet to be 100% authenticated. This fact is mentioned by the Princeton Architectural Press, but ultimately rejected by the Finding Frida Kahlo author Barbara Levine. She writes: "This archive in five cases offers us an intact album of Frida Kahlo's world, and how she imagined her place in it." Noyola said he acquired the works from a woodcarver who had made frames for Kahlo. He says Kahlo trusted the woodcarver so much that she gave him several suitcases of her possessions. Noyola later had the works authenticated by Diego Rivera's granddaughter and three artists who had worked with Kahlo during the 1940s.

Levine admits that the collection "hovers between fact and fiction." Although Levine may not see a problem with the collection's ambiguous status, Hilda Trujillo Soto, director of the Frida Kahlo Museum, says that the book is full of forgeries. "The publisher is taking a cynical attitude. They are disseminating Frida Kahlo fakes," she said. Professor James Oles agrees: "After verifying the documentation in this deluxe book published in the United States, we as a group of 15 people, who have all worked on exhibitions, books and articles of Frida Kahlo's works, have come to the conclusion that these documents are fake," he wrote.

The group of Kahlo scholars claim that the handwriting is not Kahlo's, the context is all off, and her signature is wrong. Yet none of the 15 have been to Mexico to visit the objects in person. A spokesperson for the Princeton Architectural Press admits that they "just fell in love with the material" and did not take the steps to authenticate the items themselves. "We could have figured out how to call, and we didn't," says Jennifer Thompson. But, as Levine rather optimistically points out, the items in question, which include recipes, explicit drawings, and everything in between, are fascinating pieces regardless of whether Kahlo actually wrote them or not. "Would this material be interesting if it wasn't Frida Kahlo?" she added. "Well, yes it is."

Works Attributed To The Mexican Artist Frida Kahlo 'Are Fakes' [Times]
Kahlo Trove: Fact Or Fakery? [New York Times]
Frida Kahlo 'Fakes' Investigated [BBC]

• Less than 50% of female residents of Ontario who had abnormal pap smears received follow-up care, a new study says. Unsurprisingly, many of the untreated women were from lower-income communities. • AdAge breaks down what we can learn from online dating. Among the bullet-point nuggets of wisdom: "the vast majority of people out there are hurting, confused, bitter, uncertain, cynical and, yes, crazy" and "We are all biologically programmed to be 'about the looks.' Apple has built a small empire based on its remarkable aesthetic." • Ever wondered what happens when you sneeze? This article will answer that question, and several others, like why does a sneeze sometimes feel so fucking good? • Margaret Atwood on the environmentalist message of her new novel, Year of the Flood: ‘‘We tend to pay attention to immediate needs and desires, but we are not so good at looking down the road, and it is really hard for us to look a hundred years down the road.'' Read the rest of the (awesome) interview here. •  A 14-year-old mixed race girl from the UK was driven to attempt suicide by the taunts of her racist 15-year-old classmate. Last month, the boy was convicted of racially aggravated harassment, but he was only sentenced to a six month supervision order and a fine. The victim said of the ruling: "That's pants." •  One Texas sheriff's deputy has been fired and four other deputies have been disciplined for asking a scantily-clad waitress named Bambi to pose on the back of their police cruiser holding a AR-15 rifle. • Controversy is brewing over a book on Frida Kahlo coming out this fall that the publishers say contains "an astonishing lost archive of one of the 20th century's most revered artists … full of ardent desires, seething fury, and outrageous humour." Unfortunately, Kahlo scholars say the items are fake and are pushing Mexican art institutions to step in and "put a stop to this type of fraud." • Director Kathryn Bigelow says she filmed The Hurt Locker, her critically-acclaimed film about the Iraq War, in Jordan because, "It's a movie about the Middle East and, call me crazy, I wanted to shoot it in the Middle East. I don't think Arizona would have been quite right... The nature of this film was so reportorial – if you don't immerse yourself, how are you going to tell the story responsibly?" • A federal judge ruled today in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota challenging informed consent laws that South Dakota abortion doctors must tell pregnant women the procedure terminates the life of a human being. However, she ruled that pregnant women don't have to be told abortion increases the likelihood of suicide or that they have an existing relationship with the fetus. • A British man who had a cornea transplant says he must have received the "cornea of a woman". His wife used to have to pester him to do housework but he says, "Because of my new eyesight I now notice every speck of dust and dirt and immediately want to clean it up... There is a reason why men don't clean normally and I think it's because we just don't see the dirt. But since the transplant I now see it wherever I go."

Few and far between, it seems. Check these out:

St. Pauli Girl beer features a buxom bar maid on the label. Actually, looking at this visual "history" of the model, she's changed a lot. In 1982, she wasn't so busty; in 1989 she was (gasp!) brunette; in 2004 her apron disappeared, her top shrank and her skirt became alarmingly short. Progress!


Frida Kahlo tequila, launched in 2005, features the famed painter's visage on its bottles. Frida's niece, Isolda P. Kahlo, is involved with the brand. Unfortunately, art critic and author Raquel Tibol, who befriended Kahlo at the end of the artist’s life, is outraged, saying, "This is a dirty shame!" Blogger and artist Mark Vallens writes: "The idea of the artist’s alcoholism being somehow romantic could not be further from the truth. It was not a sense of romanticism that led Kahlo to drink a bottle of tequila a day, but the debilitating pain she endured from the accident suffered in her youth."

The labels on a Belgian beer called Rubbel Sexy Lager picture women wearing swimsuits, but the swimsuits can be scratched off, leaving naked models behind. Classy! This brew was pulled from shelves in the UK last year.

Sofia sparkling wine is manufactured by Francis Ford Coppola's winery, and named after his director daughter. Each can comes with a little bitty straw, because chicks like their booze to be cute! (Disclaimer: I've imbibed quite a few Sofias in my day and actually think mini champagne is a good idea.)




Inspired by the Hollywood icon, Marilyn wine exists, but, as Sadie says, "I wouldn't drink it."

Sailor Jerry rum is named after a man (the legendary tattoo artist) but has a pin-up girl on the bottle, does that count?

Damiana herbal-based liqueur from Mexico comes in a bottle shaped like an Incan goddess. Except, uh, the Incans were from Peru, right? So she should be Mayan, or Aztec? Well the website lists an address in Texas, so maybe someone is confused.


Batuque cachaça from Brazil is made from sugar cane and aged in mahogany barrels. The bottle is shaped like a woman wearing a Brazilian bikini (read: thong.) I had it in a caipirinha once, and never got around to figuring out why the poor woman has an awesome booty but no head. (Here's another view of her physique.)

Veuve Clicquot was, at some point, run by Madame Clicquot, hence the term "grande dame." If you look at her portrait you'll see Madame was pretty serious about her booze.

Did I miss any? Let me know.

The Men Behind Your Favorite Liquors [Mental Floss]
Earlier: The Top 10 Female Product Advertising Icons & The Actresses Who Could Replace Them

Frida Kahlo Look-Alike Model Open Audition Pictures [Feminist Law Professors]
Frida Kahlo Look-Alike Model Open Audition[Stephan Zielinski]

Sienna less than perfect? Good heavens! But there's more — in fact, this article is a veritable goldmine of eyebrow information. For example, did you know that in Iran, the ungroomed brow is a sign of virginity? And movie stars in the 40s and 50s often removed their eyebrows completely, so as not to seem masculine. But later, in the tumultuous, free-lovin' 60s, "Everything got a lot more androgynous," says a columnist at The Guardian. The article goes on to say, "Hair grew everywhere for years. It sprouted all over men and women. The bushy brow's zenith was reached on Brooke Shields' face in The Blue Lagoon." Then, in the 80s and 90s (remember early, almost browless Kate Moss?) brows were thin again. Ugh: How exhausting! Anyhow, apparently a good pluck can open up your eyes, so much so that "a lot of clients feel they've had a facelift," swears another professional shaper. But clearly it's time to ditch the tweezers and stop the weeding, Sienna-style. Hey, we love Frida Kahlo!

Highbrow Eyebrow Fashion [ABCNews]