Sunday, January 7, 2018

Friendship / Light














From Maria Popova at Brain Pickings:

... Shortly after the American painter was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown and instructed by doctors not to paint for a year, Kahlo sent her an epitome of what Virginia Woolf so aptly called "the humane art."

...

Georgia, 

Was wonderful to hear your voice again. Every day since I called you and many times before months ago I wanted to write you a letter. I wrote you many, but every one seemed more stupid and empty and I torn them up. I can’t write in English all that I would like to tell, especially to you. I am sending this one because I promised it to you. I felt terrible when Sybil Brown told me that you were sick but I still don’t know what is the matter with you. Please Georgia dear if you can’t write, ask Stieglitz to do it for you and let me know how are you feeling will you? I’ll be in Detroit two more weeks. I would like to tell you every thing that happened to me since the last time we saw each other, but most of them are sad and you mustn’t know sad things now. After all I shouldn’t complain because I have been happy in many ways though. Diego is good to me, and you can’t imagine how happy he has been working on the frescoes here. I have been painting a little too and that helped. I thought of you a lot and never forget your wonderful hands and the color of your eyes. I will see you soon. I am sure that in New York I will be much happier. If you still in the hospital when I come back I will bring you flowers, but it is so difficult to find the ones I would like for you. I would be so happy if you could write me even two words. I like you very much Georgia.

Frieda

(Interesting that Frida handwrites her name as "Frieda.")





















5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is so beautiful and lovely to read. Thank you so much for posting it.

Colette said...

Just when you think you can't love Frida Kahlo more...

am said...

Colette -- I thought that it was interesting that Frida (as I have always seen her name spelled) signed her name in handwriting as "Frieda."}

Colette said...

Hmmmm. That IS curious. I wonder which is correct?

am said...

Colette -- I just did some googling of images of Frida's signature. In no other place does she sign "Frieda," although it does appear to read "Frieda" on the back of the envelope that the letter was sent in. There are no references anywhere that I could find on Google to "Frieda Kahlo." I can only guess that for some reason she chose to use the spelling that would be more commonly used in the U.S. Still, it does seem odd.