Clare Boothe Luce, Who Commissioned a Portrait of Dorothy Donovan Hale, Said She Received the Only Note Left by Dorothy Before Her Alleged Suicide— or Did She? Myth Number Two: The Suicide Note (Part One)

Clare Boothe Luce

This is the story recorded in history: Frida Kahlo’s painting, “El Suicidio de Dorothy Hale” (The Suicide of Dorothy Hale) was commissioned by Clare Boothe Luce who said she received the only note left by Dorothy Hale before her alleged suicide. Mrs. Luce gave an exclusive interview about Dorothy and the painting to renowned Frida Kahlo scholar and author, Hayden Herrera. Here is what Mrs. Luce said, “The only message she {Dorothy} had left in the apartment was a note addressed to me. She thanked me for my friendship and asked me to see that her mother, who lived in upstate New York, was notified so that arrangements could be made to have her buried in the family plot.”

As I discussed in my previous post: “Frida Kahlo’s “The Suicide of Dorothy Hale” was Commissioned as a Gift for Dorothy’s Grieving Mother — Or Was It? Myth Number One”, I researched the life and death of Dorothy Donovan Hale beyond the one interview given by Mrs. Luce. I was shocked to learn that Dorothy’s mother had died when Dorothy was sixteen years old. I would later learn, after meeting members of the Donovan family, Dorothy’s father never remarried.

The note that Mrs. Luce said Dorothy left her before allegedly committing suicide, is another puzzling myth. Dorothy’s mother was dead at the time of Dorothy’s death. This follows the same inaccurate statement that was discussed in “Myth One” when Mrs. Luce said she commissioned the painting as a gift for Dorothy’s grieving mother.

When I first spoke to members of the Donovan family, they were perplexed and frustrated that Mrs. Luce had left behind these inaccuracies about Dorothy and her mother that are now recorded in countless books, articles and websites that chronicle the painting. As Dorothy Hale’s niece said to me many times, “My Aunt Dorothy deserves the respect of correct information.”

Myra Bairstow
info@dorothyhale.com

Quotes and Passages from “Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo” by Hayden Herrera