Frida Kahlo’s Words To Clare Boothe Luce: “ I Hope The Picture Pleased You, I Tried My Best To Do What I Felt.”

I remember finding the letter from Frida Kahlo to Clare Luce in Clare’s archives at the Library of Congress. Frida’s words, “I tried my best to do what I felt” resonated deeply within me. This was pure Frida: authentic, unwavering and visceral.

Had Frida not painted her haunting depiction of Dorothy Hale, I never would have explored the enigmatic life and death of Dorothy. Had Frida painted what she was hired to do by Clare Luce - a beautiful portrait of Dorothy as a gift for the grieving mother - I never would have discovered that Dorothy’s mother was dead at the time of Dorothy’s death and that Clare Luce left disconcerting inaccuracies about Dorothy for history to record.

Frida Kahlo, however, left an eerie liberation for Dorothy Hale by memorializing a story that would one day be uncovered through her painting. It was never my intention to unearth such a provocative and controversial story. But having done so, it is my intention to share this remarkable journey that began when I first saw “El Suicidio de Dorothy Hale” by the extraordinary Frida Kahlo.