Was There Really An Engagement Between Harry Hopkins And Dorothy Hale Or Was It A Short-Lived Relationship? Myth Number 6

Harry Hopkins, TIME Magazine July 1938

In July 1938, TIME magazine reported that WPA Administrator Harry Hopkins said “it is nobody’s god damn business” whether he was engaged to Dorothy Donovan Hale. Popular newspapers of the day began reporting on a possible engagement in March, 1938. Even LIFE magazine ran a blurb in its May edition.

The engagement was never confirmed by Harry Hopkins nor by Dorothy Hale. However, when Dorothy died on October 21, 1938 at age thirty-three, it was rumored by her friend Clare Boothe Luce that she committed suicide because Hopkins broke off their relationship. The Donovan family strongly disagreed with Luce and were confused by the many inaccurate statements made by Luce about Dorothy. The niece of Dorothy Hale said the family never accepted Dorothy’s death as a suicide. The Donovan family believed Dorothy broke off the relationship with Harry Hopkins.

Diego Rivera Introduced Frida Kahlo To Clare Luce

Diego Rivera

Even though Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were separated in November of 1938, they still kept in contact. Frida was preparing for her first one-woman exhibition in New York City at the Julien Levy Gallery. Diego suggested she meet Clare Boothe Luce, who was married to Time Magazine founder Henry Luce. Diego gave Frida a letter of introduction to Clare.

In his book, "My Art, My Life," Diego recounted: “I had imagined that Frida would find Mrs. Luce an interesting person to know, but she didn’t take to her at all. She found her cold, brittle and impenetrably defensive.”

Frida would meet Clare at her opening reception at the Levy Gallery on November 1, 1938. This was twelve days after their mutual friend, Dorothy Hale, died. Clare commissioned Frida to paint a portrait of Dorothy. Instead, Frida painted a haunting rendition of Dorothy falling to her death from an apartment window at the Hampshire House on Central Park South.

Clare was outraged and wanted to destroy the painting when she received it. Fortunately, the painting survived some slight overpainting and nearly twenty years in a storage facility. Today, the picture is not only hailed as one of Kahlo’s most brilliant paintings, but it has unraveled a fascinating mystery about the life and death of Dorothy. Perhaps Diego’s words give an interesting insight into why Frida intuitively painted what she felt instead of what she was hired to do by the powerful Clare Luce?

We invite you to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Clare Boothe Luce Said Harry Hopkins Broke Off His Relationship With Dorothy Hale--Or Did He? Myth Number Five

FDR and Harry Hopkins

“Those in the know in Washington said that FDR had ordered Harry Hopkins to end his affair with Dorothy, and to marry instead Lou Macy, a close friend of the Roosevelts, which Hopkins did. Most of the gossip columnists made it brutally clear that Dorothy had been jilted.”
Clare Boothe Luce

Dorothy Hale died on October 21, 1938. Harry Hopkins, advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt, did not meet Lou Macy until the 1940s. This was over two years after Dorothy died. Harry Hopkins did eventually marry Lou Macy, but this was long after Dorothy's death.

In her famous interview about Dorothy Hale and the Frida Kahlo painting, Clare Luce insinuated that Dorothy committed suicide because Harry Hopkins broke off their relationship. The family of Dorothy Hale never believed she intended to marry Harry Hopkins. Dorothy’s father thought it was Dorothy who ended the relationship with Hopkins. Interestingly, Dorothy was seeing another man at the time of her death.

Myra Bairstow

info@dorothyhale.com

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

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.

Dorothy Hale's "Top-Story" Suite at the Hampshire House. Myth Number Four.

The Hampshire House, NYC
as depicted by Frida Kahlo in
El Suicidio de Dorothy Hale.

In October 1938, Dorothy Hale lived at the Hampshire House located at 150 Central Park South, New York City - as depicted in Frida Kahlo's famous painting.

Clare Boothe Luce stated that Dorothy lived in a ‘top-story’ suite at the Hampshire House. Dorothy did not live in a Penthouse Suite. She rented a studio apartment on the 16th floor.

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

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 Three: The Suicide Note (Part Two)

Clare Boothe Luce

Clare Boothe Luce gave an exclusive interview about Dorothy Hale and the painting entitled ‘The Suicide of Dorothy Hale’ to renowned Frida Kahlo scholar and author, Hayden Herrera. 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 discussed in “Myth Two: The Suicide Note (Part One),” Dorothy’s mother died when Dorothy was just sixteen years old.

Several Inconsistencies in Clare Boothe Luce’s Account of Dorothy’s Family

In addition to Dorothy’s mother being dead at the time of her daughter’s death, Mrs. Luce said her mother lived in upstate New York. Dorothy’s family never lived in upstate New York. They were from Pennsylvania.

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

Myra Bairstow
info@dorothyhale.com 

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