Controversy Surrounds Recent Frida Kahlo Discovery

(Above) Cover of new book, Finding Frida Kahlo. Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Letter to Carlos Pellicer, second paragraph (right side):
Click image for larger view.

“How angry I
become when
I read this.
Come see me I want
to tell you about something
very interesting.
I am alone and
I get desperate.
How much I have
to paint and I do not
finish; I wait for you

Frida K.

P.S. Bring me coconut candies.”

(Above) Contents of small box. Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Painted and decorated front of book. Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Contents of small box, with baby doll and scrapbook. Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Love letter to Diego where she ends with “I ask my heart, why you and not someone else? Toad of my soul. Frida K.” Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Pages and pages of notes, drawings, letters and other ephemera were found. Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Inside spread of book (pgs. 140 and 141) showing cover of Kahlo diary complete with numerous graphic erotic drawings detailing her many affairs and thoughts of sex. Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Inside spread of the book (pgs. 72 and 73), with photograph of what appears to be a piece of wallpaper Frida used to write on. Click on image for larger view.

I AM NOT AN EXPERT ON FRIDA KAHLO (1906 –1954), but the recent book by Barbara Levine (with Stephen Jaycox) Finding Frida Kahlo revealing a newly found treasure trove of Kahlo artifacts has certainly peaked my interest to learn more. I read the book, cover to cover—fascinated by the intimate objects, paintings, drawings, altered books and private letters by the tempestuous, self-taught artist. Kahlo was married to the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. Their relationship was marked by frequent and open affairs with other lovers, and Kahlo herself had affairs with both men and women. Fraught with numerous health problems, including polio at age 6 and from a terrible automobile (bus) accident at the beginning of her teenage years—Kahlo suffered most of her life with complications and illnesses associated with her physical misfortunes.

This discovery (and subsequent book) came about from a happenchance meeting by author Barbara Levine with Carlos and Leticia Noyola, and their son Diego, in their antique shop, La Buhardilla Antiquarios (The Attic Antiques) in San Miguel, Mexico. Levine was formerly director of exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and has been actively involved with publishing books, collecting vernacular photography, art and other ephemera.

A discovery like this is the kind of thing that all collectors dream of. It’s the reason I still go to flea markets and estate sales—hoping against all hope that maybe—just maybe—the case under the table or the box in the barn behind the house will contain something you identify as great, rare and wonderful. Most collectors go a lifetime without such a discovery.

The book is wonderful. Reading the translated letters by Frida—her cursing Diego, longing for him—reveals the kind of relationship the two artists had with each other. Her erotic drawings and others are packed with symbolism and cryptic hints at dual meanings allowing for much interpretation. The design of the book is beautiful, but how could it not be? It was designed by Martin Venezky and his Appetite Engineers design shop in San Francisco.

Levine and the publisher present the archive for what it is—several trunks and suitcases of what looks to be authentic personal materials, art objects and ephemera of Frida Kahlo. Though numerous experts on Kahlo have studied the found objects and declared them authentic, Kahlo “insiders” have been screaming fake. Most, if not all of these naysayers have not even examined and held the newly discovered materials, and are basing their opinions from published photos of the contents alone. Though there is money (and professional reputations) to be made or lost in the controversy, you won’t see Levine or the publisher Princeton Architectural Press suffer from the final outcome if the materials are fake. Why? They are simply putting the archive out there for the experts to feed on and fight over. Like throwing chum in an ocean of sharks, they are content to let truth settle the issue. I like that. It is what it is.

As for me, I have examined thousands and thousands of art objects and ephemeral things in my lifetime and I have this to say, admittedly based simply on looking at the book: faking this archive of letters, doodles, drawings, writings, prose and artwork would have meant finding a mainline into the very soul of Frida Kahlo. The words alone, in the letters and sketches supporting them, feel so idiosyncratic and personal that I just do not believe it possible to conjure up such a private, personal dialogue. The letters are stained, dirty and certainly pass at least the first level of my “forgery radar.” If the archive turns out to be fake—it will certainly be considered a most masterful and detailed scam. And, in that there is not a single so-called “masterwork” in the entire found collection, the question I would have to ask is ”why?” I can understand forging letters and other such things to support or set the stage for a multi-million dollar forgery—but this? While the collection is endlessly fascinating and revealing of Kahlo—I cannot imagine this much work forged for one grandiose scheme. But then again....?

Stay tuned, while the experts fight this one out.

And here you can read a very thorough, in-depth article about the discovery and controversy by Christopher Knight, of the LA Times.

Illustrated letters

(Above) Gladys Nilsson to Mimi Gross and Red Grooms [postmarked 25 April 1969].

Letter; handwritten, ill.; 27 x 19 cm Mimi Gross papers, 1960 - 1981.

Painter Gladys Nilsson used United Airlines stationary to send a thank you note from the “friendly skies” to fellow artists Mimi Gross and Red Grooms. Nilsson connected her collage of smiling faces with a message cloud, expressing her thanks.

Click on image for larger view.

(Above) William Cushing Loring to his parents, 14 July 1901.

Letter; handwriten, ill.; 21 x 14 cm
William Cushing Loring papers, 1899 - 1961.

In this letter to his parents, painter William Cushing Loring describes his neighborhood in Paris and the 72-hour Bastille Day celebration that was taking place there in July 1901.

Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Allen Tupper True to Jane True [1927].

Letter; handwritten, ill.; 21.6 x 14 cm Allen Tupper True and True family papers, 1841 - 1987.

In a letter to his daughter, painter and illustrator Allen Tupper True embellished his hotel stationery to express his awe of New York city’s skyscrapers. He included himself as a speck on the street.

Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Moses Soyer to David Soyer [1940].

Letter; handwritten, ill.; 29.7 x 21.5 cm Moses Soyer papers, 1920 - 1974 and undated.

Moses Soyer sent what he called a “puzzle picture” to his son, who was away at summer camp. In a watercolor vignette, he pictures the family dog and cat and baseball great Dizzy Dean. The baseball glove was shown flying from his home in New York to his son’s bunk at Camp Quannacut.


(Above) Eero Saarinen to Aline Bernstein [1953].

Letter; handwritten, ill.; 27.9 x 21.4 cm Aline and Eero Saarinen papers, 1857 - 1972.

Finnish-born architect Eero Saarinen often illustrated letters to his second wife, an art editor and later critic at “The New York Times,” the Michigan Music School, sketched here in plan and elevation, was finished in 1964.

Click on image for larger view.


(Above) Paul Manship to Leon Kroll, ca. 1935.

Letter; handwritten, ill.; 27.8 x 21.5 cm Leon Kroll papers, 1916 - 1976.

In this note from sculptor Paul Manship to painter Leon Kroll, the sculptor recommends a model, Miss Miriam McCreedy, and sketches her voluptuous figure.

Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Frida Kahlo to Emmy Lou Packard, 24 Oct. 1940.

Letter; handwritten, ill.; 19.7 x 14.5 cm Emmy Lou Packard papers, ca. 1900 - 1990.

Frida Kahlo, writing from New York, thanked her friend for taking care of Kahlo’s former husband, Diego Rivera. Kahlo signed her letter with red lipstick kisses - one for Emmy Lou, one for Diego, and one for Emmy Lou’s son, Donald. Kahlo and Rivera later remarried.

Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Howard Finster to Barbara Shissler, 1981.

Letter; handwritten, ill.; 25.4 x 20.2 cm Howard Finster papers, 1932 - 1987.

Visionary artist and Baptist preacher Reverend Howard Finster wrote to curator Barbara Shissler about a trip to Washington, D.C., for the opening of an exhibition Shissler had organized at what is now the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Click on image for larger view.


(Above) Paul Bransom to Grace Bond, ca. 1905.

Letter; handwritten, ill.; 28 x 21.5 cm Paul Bransom Papers, 1862 - 1983.

Paul Bransom portrayed himself fixated on a photograph of his sweetheart. A year later, Bransom married Grace and sold five covers to “The Saturday Evening Post,” launching his career as a freelance illustrator.

Click on image for larger view.


WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU ACTUALLY WROTE AN OLD-FASHIONED LETTER? If you are young (under 30) it is quite possible that you have never written a letter, save a “thank you” note or postcard. In fact, I dare say that handwriting skills are worse today than ever before. College students rarely have to hand write much of anything anymore. It’s all texted and twittered, emailed and skyped.

How did this happen? The popularization and dissemination of email technology in the late 1980s was the final nail in the coffin of this art form. Sure, letters are still written, but it is quickly vanishing. These letters, from popular artists/architects and illustrators (above), reside in The Smithsonian Institution.