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Fashioning National Identity: Kahlo in "Gringolandia" Author(s): Rebecca Block and Lynda Hoffman-Jeep Reviewed work(s): Source: Woman's Art Journal, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Autumn, 1998 - Winter, 1999), pp. 8-12 Published by: Woman's Art Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1358399 . Accessed: 09/01/2013 20:24

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This content downloaded on Wed, 9 Jan 2013 20:24:06 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions FASHIONINGNATIONAL IDENTITY

Frida Kahlo in "Gringolandia"

By Rebecca Block and Lynda I loffmun-Jeep

F rida Kahlo'sadoption of Mexicanindigenous dress began A particularlypoignant example of the (ab)use of lo indigena on the day of her marriageto , August 21, was the case of la India Bonita, a beauty contest that took place in 1929, when she borroweda skirt,blouse, and from City in 1921,10sponsored by the periodicalEl Universal a maid to wear to the ceremony in hall in Coyoacan.' Ilustrado.Young women arrayedin their indigenousfinery posed HeretoforeKahlo's wearing of native clothingmost frequentlyhas for photographersand promenadedin front of the judges, whose been attributedto her desire to please her husbandand hide phys- job it was to select "lamas bella"(the most beautiful).The winner ical deficiencies.2However, this dress can also be seen as a politi- was describedin El UniversalIlustrado: cal statement:Kahlo's sartorial endorsement of postrevolutionary ideology. Photographsof her in native dress when she and Rivera She arrivedhere accompaniedby her grandmother,a pure "meschi- first visited , from November 1930 to June 1931, ca" Indian,who doesn'tspeak any Spanish.She comesfrom the communicatedMexican revolutionary cultural tenets as clearlyas highlandswhere she was bornand lives and she'seven wearinga did Rivera'smurals.3 "huipal"tied at the waist. Todayshe's received three million pesos Afterthe revolution,a ten-yearstruggle that ended in 1920, po- and an enormousamount of attention....Her nameis MariaBibiana litical leaders consciouslydeveloped programsto cultivate Mexi- Uribeand she's 18 years old." can nationalismin educationand the arts. The school system was expandedto serve indigenousand ruralpopulations, and there was MariaBibiana Uribe then had "fiveo'clock tea" with AlbertoPani, a surge in commissionsof muralsportraying the contributionsof Secretaryof Foreign Relations,and other dignitaries,and her na- Mexico'sindigenous peoples, past and present. Folkloricelements tive beauty was exploited to push "el Jab6n Flores del Campo" were rediscoveredby composers,and architectsreturned to forms (WildflowerSoap).'2 Other than this, there was no attempton the and materialsfrom the past, exudinga spiritof nationalism.4From part of the competition organizersto assimilate the indigenous the outset the governmentexalted contemporary manifestations of culturethey had wished to exaltand honor. Mexico'spre-Hispanic past while simultaneouslydirecting atten- By contrast,when the young, vibrant, native-Mexican-attired tion to the rich diversityinherent in Mexicanculture.5 This glorifi- accompaniedher husband to San Franciscoin mid- cation of indigenous peoples evolved into what Luis Villoro de- November 1930, she immediately was recognized as una Mexi- scribed as the dialectic of the indigenistamindset.6 By emphasiz- cana, muy bonita. PhotographerEdward Weston describes his ing the unique and pristinenature of Mexicanculture through the firstencounter with Kahlo,on December 14, 1930: valorizationof its native inhabitants,the leaders sought to elevate the "real"Americans against the rest of the world, and especially I photographedDiego again,his new wife-Frida-too: she is in against the United States. The image of the native Mexican, sharpcontrast to Lupe[Guadalupe Marin, Rivera's second wife], viewed as the protagonistin the revolution,sustained the national- petit, -a little doll alongsideDiego, but a doll in size only,for she ist movementbetween 1920 and 1940.7 is strongand quite beautiful,shows very little of herfather'sGer- Appropriatinglo indigena, however,was an ambiguousunder- manblood. Dressed in nativecostume even to huaraches,she causes takingfor the rest of Mexicansociety, as Villorocorrectly pointed muchexcitement on the streetsof SanFrancisco. People stop in out in 1949. For while lo indzgenaembodied, both biologicallyand theirtracks to look in wonder.13 spiritually,the root, essence, or core of all "true", most indigenouspeople were isolated, both socially and economically, In San Francisco, according to Rivera'sbiographer Bertram from the mainstreamof Mexicansociety. Nevertheless,the ideal Wolfe, "Diego and Fridawere feted, lionized,spoiled." He contin- of lo indigena was perceived by post-revolutionaryleaders as the ued: "Partieseverywhere, streams of invitationsto teas, dinners, root necessaryto pinpointMexican cultural uniqueness. Ironically, week-ends, lectures with great audiencescoming to get a glimpse lo indigenaincorporates for Mexicansociety in general,on the one of them and listening,astounded, to Diego's words on art and so- hand that which is most intimatelyMexican, and on the other, that cial questions."'4 which is most foreignand separate.8 Althoughthe 23-year-oldKahlo apparently was not interviewed Given Mexicansociety's ambivalence about its originalinhabi- by the media duringher stayin California,we can extractfrom the tants, the risk was great of their "not getting it right,"i.e., of re- carefully staged formal photographstaken at this time that her gressing into stereotypicalrepresentations when publicizingthis fashionwas her public statement. In Weston'sphotograph (1930; aspect of nationalism.Depictions of native Mexicansin the the- Fig. 1) she wears the loosely draped fringed rebozo around her ater, comic strips,popular music, and film duringthe twenties and shouldersand heavy beads of jadeite-the green stone was a fa- thirtiesfailed to convey the richnessand spiritualdepth of indige- vorite stone of Aztec sculptors-around her neck. The muted, nous culture.Instead, popular representations continued to depict very light backgroundseems to indicatean outdoorsetting, which timeworn stereotypes characterized by their use of language, is confirmedin anotherWeston photographwith Riverain frontof dress, gait, and generalbehavior.9 one of his in progress.Kahlo's hands rest gently but firmly 0 WOMAN'S ARTJOURNAL

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Fig. 1. EdwardWeston, Portraitof FridaKahlo (1930), photograph. Fig. 2. EdwardWeston, Portraitof FridaKahlo and Diego Rivera(1930), Center for Creative Photography,Arizona Board of Regents. photograph.Center for Creative Photography,Arizona Board of Regents.

Fig. 3. Imogen Cunningham,Portrait of FridaKahlo (1930), photograph. Fig. 4. , Portraitof FridaKahlo (1939), photograph. The Imogen CunninghamTrust, Berkeley. CourtesyMark Kelman. FALL1998 / WINTER1999 0

This content downloaded on Wed, 9 Jan 2013 20:24:06 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions in her lap;her gaze is pensive and divertedfrom the camera;she is Third-world texts, even those which are seemingly private and self-absorbedand proud. In the formal pose with Rivera (1930; invested with properly libidinal dynamic necessarily project a Fig. 2), the giant muralistdwarfs his young wife, who appearsre- political dimension in the form of national allegory: the story of the laxed, with a hint of a smile, but still in full control of her photo- private individual destiny is always an allegory of the embattled graphicstatement. situation of the public third-world culture and society.22 In both photographsKahlo wears a rebozo,a rectangularwoven shawl of cotton, wool, or silk, sometimes embroidered and with Clearly Kahlo combines the private and public aspects of her life long fringes.Of uncertainorigin, the rebozowas worn by all social in her sartorial allegory of postrevolutionary Mexico. classes, distinguishedonly by type of material.'5In Weston'spho- Yet another goal of Mexican leaders after the revolution was to tographs, Kahlo's rebozo, as well as her dress, appear to be of uphold a unique Mexican presence in the face of European and heavysilk, thus identifyingher with the upper classes.The opulent especially North American cultural and economic colonization. A strandsof Aztec stone beads simultaneouslyestablish a firm link to playful and at the same time staged photograph by Peter A. Juley, pre-HispanicMexico. also taken in 1930 (Fig. 5), portrays Kahlo and Rivera with Lucille A photographtaken by Imogen Cunninghamaround the same and Arnold Blanch, with whom they stayed while in San Francis- time (Fig. 3) makesa quite differentstatement. Again the rebozois co.23The contrast between the women's dress and poses is striking. featured,but this time it is drapedacross the chest in the manner Especially revealing is the casual, even submissive pose of Lucille of the revolutionarysoldaderas. It appearsto be woven of cotton or Blanch on the lap of a spread-legged and smiling Rivera, who light wool, and the ornamentalfringes are hidden. Her ringless firmly holds her against his body. The strategic placement of her hands appear relaxed and the casual support of the elbow on a hand, posed in easy reach of Rivera's genitals, should not be over- cane-backedchair lends the photographa proletarianair. Centered looked. Both Blanch and Rivera here confirm stereotypes of the in her less elaborate,one-strand necklace is a stone bearing two "macho" Latin and the American female adventurer. Kahlo, by Aztec symbols: a circle and cross superimposedon two crossed contrast, dressed in Mexican (but not peasant) garb, sits sedately bands.According to JaniceHelland: on the knees of Arnold Blanch, her hands resting firmly on her lap. Her body does not yield to this American man and his encir- Thecircle and crosson the necklacerepresent the Aztecglyph cling hold, which is relaxed and not confining. Kahlo's carriage and "movement"or "settingin motion"(a beginning).However, the concentrated gaze elevate her above the others and isolate crossedbands are associatedwith the Aztecgod of death (or her within the foursome. Kahlo's sartorial declaration and posture sacrifice),Michlantecuhtli, often found on Death Stoneboxes. are meant here to be read as a public affirmation of Mexicanidad ConsideringKahlo's interest in Mexico,emphasis upon Aztec, and postrevolutionary Mexico's attitude toward U.S. economic and andfascinationwith the life-deathcycle, it is not surprisingthat cultural colonization, the same message found in Rivera's contem- the workcombines two symbols-the "settingin motion"or poraneous . beginning with death and sacrifice-into one.16 Similar messages can be found in her self-portraits of the peri- od. In Self-Portrait on the Border between Mexico and the United In the Cunninghamphotograph Kahlo assumes for the first time States (1932; Fig. 6), painted during her stay in , Kahlo what became her trademarkposture: Solitary, confident, and con- places herself at a crossroad, elaborating on and concretizing the frontational,she gazes directly into the photographer'slens and personal and political positions evidenced in the Juley photograph the viewer'seyes. with the Blanches. In the Kahlo also portrays herself in In the costumes flaunted by Kahlo in these Californiapho- "colonial-style" dress and austerely coiffed hair, adding a tographs,she embodies the two main goals of postrevolutionary -like beaded necklace with bones. There is a consider- Mexicanleaders: She exaltscontemporary manifestations of Mexi- able irony in Kahlo's sartorial manipulation of culture, for she is al- co's pre-Hispanicpast (the Aztecjewelry and her achievementof a so wearing lacy fingerless gloves of a kind she favored throughout "nativelook" with her simple coiffure) and simultaneouslydirects her life.24 Further, her stern, dispassionate gaze contradicts the attention to the rich diversity in Mexican culture (the different message evoked by the trace of nipples discernible beneath the types of rebozo, her dress, pose, and props). AlthoughKahlo's fa- bodice of her dress; her stiff pose contrasts with the cigarette casu- ther was by birth a German Jew, her mother was a Mexican ally held between two fingers of her right hand; and the miniature Catholic,and it is the latter ethnic heritage she chose to promote paper cut-out flag in her left suggests a party or parade. In juxta- (although she never denied her Jewishness).'7Rivera, too, ex- position to the Star Spangled Banner partially hidden by clouds of pressedpride in his "Indian-Spanish-Mexicanparents."'8 industrial smoke and removed from human connection, this lace- Kahlo began creatingher authenticallyMexican "look" during backed political icon conveys, through its central position in the the first years of her marriage. Her conscious appropriationof painting, a vibrant personal element in Mexican nationalism. On both ancient and contemporarycultural signs and symbolsreflects the smokestacks are written the letters F O R D, and on the her transitionfrom a single woman to a marriedwoman, from a pedestal on which she stands is carved her newly adopted name, privateperson to the public role of spouse of a well-knownartist, "Carmen Rivera."25Boldly, Kahlo has placed herself, a Mexican and from an invalidto an artist.l9Indeed, her personaltransition woman, as pendant to , the industrialist. The red mirrorsMexico itself, in a "phaseof self-examinationand self-defi- leather shoes that peer out discreetly from beneath her ruffle- nition after the Revolution."20The transitionalaspect of her cos- trimmed skirt complete the construction of this head-to-toe enig- tuming becomes apparent when compared with her eventual ma. In this self-image Kahlo sends a mixture of moods, styles, and adoptionof the orthodoxTehuantepec style, as shown in a photo- messages, representing no particular culture, place, or time. In sit- graphby Dora Maar,taken at the time of Kahlo's1939 exhibition uating herself, the female artist, on the border between Mexico in (Fig. 4).21 Considering the high degree of her conscious and the United States, she takes up a position not previously occu- devotion to political engagement, Fredric Jameson's hypothesis of pied by a woman. A postcolonialsubject, she has abandonedher third-world literary texts can perhaps be applied to Kahlo's fashion culturallyassigned and internationallydictated "place."The mot- as text. Jameson explains: ley natureof her adornmentat this particulartime and space rep- 0 WOMAN'S ART JOURNAL

This content downloaded on Wed, 9 Jan 2013 20:24:06 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions resents an individual and, allegori- Kahlo's application of this dualistic cally, a nation in transition. The principle. force of the paintinglies not only in ? A~~ In Self-Portraiton the Border,the the juxtapositionof industrialsterili- "m-i dual natureinherent in Aztec-Mexican ty and pre-Columbian fertility, as ?i : Aculture is in contrast to a monolithic criticsinsist,26 but ratherin the ?==-"" ''l North American culture that worships polit- i.: ical of the location and .?, *,i-=.-';1 "j but one The impact - god: industry. magnifi- "look"of the female artist. ;" cence of Mexican culture shines forth - -- =;'i: Not only does Kahloplace herself -'-- A _ more brightly when it is set in an in- at a strategicsite on the border be- ternational context. Positioning herself tween Mexicoand the United States, between two distinct worlds, Kahlo but this location is represented as highlights her role as intermediary in within the the sense of one who is centraland specific paint- " knowledgeable ing.27Although as a "Mexican and a *%i. _ ^j' i of both cultures and seeks to facilitate womanKahlo represents a dual form an apt representationof each. of marginalizationwithin the essen- When Kahlo accompanied her tially patriarchal norms of mod- , husband to San Francisco in 1930, at- ernism,"2 she actually adds a third tired in authentic Mexican clothing, dimension to her representationof displaying Aztec jewelry, and wearing marginalization:a resolute associa- her dark hair pulled tightly away from tion with indigenous culture, which her face, she exuded a distinctly fes- she displays in nearly every photo- tive air. She was celebrating Mexico at graph of her and in almost all her a time when "Anglo" tastes were the self-portraits.It seems evident that height of fashion for women of her Kahlo'ssojourn in the United States class at home,30 as by 1930 the ideo- caused critical self-reflection and PeterA. Fig. 5. Juley, FridaKohl lo, D)iego Rivera,Lucille and Arnold logical spirit that had precipitated her helped crystallize self-image. Blanch(1930), photograph. PeterA. Juley& Son Collection, National Kahlo's adoption of Mexican dress a By deliberately constructing Museumof AmericanArt Washington, D.C. was losing ground. In contrast to "critical subject," Kahlo is able to commercial spotlights on Mexico's speak from several places at once and, in so doing, to center the unique cultural heritage as exemplified in the India Bonita con- marginal, respond from both inside and outside of hegemonic test, Kahlo's donning of native Mexican clothing testifies to her structures,and questionthe norm by imbuingit with that which is sustained devotion to revolutionary ideas. She embodied what the "other."Not only does she connect boundarieswith her physical revolutionary leaders preached, and personified a nation in transi- location-on the bor- tion. As an unofficial der-but she does so as ambassador of postrev- well with her carefully constructedcostume. '; ':.J 111< the United States, she that the Self-Portrait on the - . % _,_._1~~- - : ' t..,- proved person- Borderbetween Mexico ...,...?:~. ..;~~ . ~al truly is political, right and the United States ...Ir - --.-".- down to the "ribald . , '. .:. also exhibits Kahlo's .-"'-...... ? '-:: Mexican sayings" she propensity for repre- - . r j .- otembroidered on her - :' senting binary systems -- 'X :"X 15"' petticoats."n in her works. As Ket- tz il -I 'tin k-- X - Kahlo was keenly tenmann has pointed aware of the ability of -V .:I -.la ;- :,k -- out, Kahlo derived this - clothing to communi- idea from the Aztec be- /- ; cate informationabout lief in an ongoing con- --',-" --.-. the tastes, principles, flict between the white -- =>I~~ ~ character, and moods god Huitzilopochtliand of a nation. The Mexi- his opponent Tez- IBi!-" can Revolution itself '5-_-=:- = catlipoca-a struggleof " had not created a sense opposites that contrasts 1- of nationalidentity, but subsequent political white/black, day/night, summer/winter, _1 _ i _ w leaders tried to forge a south/north.29The di- t . . , model' of nationaliden- "'"'";'"" '-' vided backgrounds in *'.rd-'"-' - tity by initiating pro- the Diego i-"'"' ''"'""~!"--'-.-grams in educationand and Frida, 1929-1944 the arts. Frida Kahlo (1944), Tree of Hope fashioned her own in- (1946), and The Love terpretation of revolu- Embrace of the Uni- Fig. 6. FridaKahlo, Self-Portraiton the Bordier bestween Mexico and the UnitedStates (1932), tionary ideology from verse (1949) typify oil on canvas, 12/2y" x 1 W/,, .Maria Reyero Collection. remnants of Mexico's FALL1998 / WINTER1999 II

This content downloaded on Wed, 9 Jan 2013 20:24:06 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions indigenous past and ethnically diverse contemporary scene, situat- 21. Self-portraitsfrom this laterperiod with the Tehuantepeccostume ing herself, and therefore her Mexican revolutionary ideals, in a includeMe and My Doll (1937), Memory(1937), ItzcuintliDog withMe broad international setting for the world to see and ponder. As a (c. 1938), and Remembranceof an Open Wound(1938). MostKahlo friend noted: "She was like birds and flowers and knitted quilts, a scholarsagree thatthe legends surroundingthe Tehuantepecwomen, a Mexican mood concentrated in an epoch and all expressed matriarchalsociety, influencedher choice of thiscostume; see, among oth- through her."32? er sources,Herrera, A Biography,109-10, and Helland"Aztec Imagery," 10. However,a pertinentbut overlooked fact concerningthe Tehuantepecs NOTES is the presenceof richethnic mixing in this region. MiguelCovarrubias, in 1. See HaydenHerrera, Frida: A Biographyof FridaKahlo (New York: his Mexico South:The Isthmus of (New York:Knopf, 1946), Harper& Row, 1983), 99. Ina laterwork Herrera claims that "Frida was writes:"The tehuanos are in the majorityZapotec Indianswith a good one of the firstwomen in the Mexicanart world to wear regionalcostumes"; measureof blood frompractically every race in the world."(243). Further- see her FridaKahlo: The Paintings (New York:HarperCollins, 1991), 48. more,the vintageof Kahlo'sTehuantepec costume was not ancient.In pre- 2. See Herrera,A Biography,111-12. Victoriantimes, the womenwore a rectangularwrapped skirt that was held 3. See BertramWolfe, TheFabulous Life of Diego Rivera(New York:Stein tightat the waist by a sash and priorto 1850 they went bare-breasted.It and Day, 1963), 300. Fora detailedaccount of Rivera'smural paintings in was duringVictorian times that silk, velvet, and brocadeswere adopted for the U.S. duringthis period, see Diego Rivera,Portrait of America,with an ex- theirelaborate skirts, an obviousEuropean influence. What Kahloadopted planatorytext by BertramWolfe (New York:Covici, Friede, 1934). was a culturallymixed costume from a raciallymixed people. 4. See LeonelDuran, "Las culturas indigenas de M6xicoy su proceso 22. FredericJameson, "Third-World Literature in the Eraof Multinational de cambio e identidad,"in Jose AlcinaFrench, ed., Indianismoe indi- Capitalism,"in Social Text(Fall 1986), 69. Schaeferalso quotesJameson genismoen America(: Alianza, 1990), 245-46. in referenceto the privateallegory of the visualimages of Mexicansocial 5. See RobertoBlancarte, "Introducci6n," in RobertoBlancarte, ed., and politicalhistory in Kahlo'spaintings; Schaefer, "Cult of the Body,"5. Culturae identidadnacional (: Consejo Nacional para la 23. Herreraidentifies the Americancouple as the Stackpolesin culturay las artes, 1994), 19. ThePaintings, 67. In FridaKahlo: The Camera Seduced (San Francisco: 6. See LuisVillora, Los grandes momentosdel indigenismoen Mexico ChronicleBooks, 1992), 120, editorsCarole Kismaricand Marvin (MexicoCity: La Casa Chato, 1949; rpt. 1979), 10. Heifermanidentify the couple as Lucilleand ArnoldBlanch. Dr. Salomon 7. See RichardP6rez Montfort, "Indigenismo, hispanismo y panameri- Grimbergconcurs. canismoen la culturapopular mexicana de 1920 a 1940," in Culturae 24. Kahloalso wears lace gloves in a 1936 photographreprinted in identidadnacional, 344, and FrederickC. Turner,The Dynamic of Mexi- ErikaBilleter, ed., TheBlue House: The World of FridaKahlo (Seattle: can Nationalism(Chapel Hill, N.C.: Universityof NorthCarolina, 1968), Universityof Washington,1993), 251, and in a 1938 photograph, 172-77 standingin frontof What the WaterGave Me (1938), reprintedin 8. See Villoro,Los grandes momentos,196, 207 Herrera,A Biography,Fig. 51. 9. Forindividual examples from each genre see P6rezMontfort, 25. Withthe rise of Nazism, Riveraencouraged Kahlo to use her "Indigenismo,"347, 349, 353-63. second name, Carmen;see Herrera,A Biography,134. 10. See ibid., 353-55. 26. See, among others,Helland, "Aztec Imagery," 9, and Herrera, 11. El UniversalIlustrado, quoted in ibid., 353. (Author'stranslation.) ThePaintings, 94-96. 12. Forfurther examples concerning the misappropriationof la India 27. We are indebtedto Joan Borsafor her astutestudy of female subjec- Bonita,see ibid., 354-55. tivityand the politicsof locationin "FridaKahlo: Marginalization and the 13. Nancy Newhall,ed., TheDaybooks of EdwardWeston: I. Mexico CriticalFemale Subject," in ThirdText, II1 (1990), 21-40. II.California (New York:Aperture. 1990), 198. 28. Oriana Baddeleyand ValerieFraser, "The Politics of LatinAmerican 14. Wolfe, TheFabulous Life, 287-88. Art,"in Drawingthe Line:Art and CulturalIdentity in ContemporaryLatin 15. See Donaldand DorothyCordry, Mexican Indian Costumes (Austin: America(London: Verso, 1989), 92. Universityof Texas, 1978), 11, 130, and Chloe Sayer, Costumesof Mexi- 29. See Kettenmann,"Selbstdarstellung im Spiegel mexikanischer co (Austin:University of Texas, 1985), 106-09. SalomonGrimberg claims Tradition,"in Helga Prignitz-Poda,Salomon Grimberg, and Andrea the rebozo is the Mexicanresponse to the Spanishmantilla. (Comment to Kettenmann,eds., FridaKahlo: Das Gesammtwerk(Frankfurt am Main: editor.) VerlagNeue Kritik,1988), 29-30. 16. Janice Helland,"Aztec Imagery in FridaKahlo's Paintings," WAJ 30. See AnitaBrenner, The Wind thatSwept Mexico: The History of the (F90/W91), 9. MexicanRevolution, 1910-1942 (New York:Harper and Brothers,1943), 17. Fora fascinatinglook at Kahloand herJewish heritage, see Gannit 81-82. Brennerdescribes the cumulativeeffect of thistrend under President Ankori,"The Hidden Frida: Covert Jewish Elements in the Artof Frida AbelardoRodriguez (1932-34): "ThePresident conversed in fluentEnglish Kahlo,"in JewishArt (1993/94), 225-47. and pitchedthe firstball in baseballgames. Wives of politicosbought 18. New YorkHerald Tribune, November 14, 1931, 15. BertramWolfe minkcoats and learnedto play bridge;their mistresses bought Lincolns." recountsthat in 1952 Riveratold a Jewishreporter "that he was 'threeeighths 31. "Layersof petticoats,their hems embroidered by Fridaherself with Jewish,'his paternalgrandfather being Anastasio de la RiveraSforza, son of ribaldMexican sayings, gave her walk a special grace and sway"; an ItalianJew bornin Petrograd."Wolfe states in a footnoteon the same Herrera,A Biography,110. page: "Ihave followedthe parentalmarriage license in whichnone of these 32. LolaAlvarez Bravo, quoted in SalomonGrimberg, Lola Alvarez Bra- for interestingpermutations shows up"; see TheFabulous Life, 13-14. vo: TheFrida Kahlo Photographs (Washington, D.C.: NationalMuseum 19. Kahlo'sinitiation into the worldof paintingactually began during Women in the Arts, 1991), 7 herconvalescence after her 1925 accident.Rivera encouraged her to is paintthroughout their long relationship.See Herrera,A Biography,62-64. Rebecca A. Block, a recent graduate of Miami University, Ohio, 20. ClaudiaSchaefer, "Frida Kahlo's Cult of the Body:Self-Portrait, currently in the clinical/community psychology graduate program at Magical Realism,and the CosmicRace," in TexturedLives: Women, Art Georgia State University. and Representationin ModernMexico (Tucson:University of Arizona, Lynda Hoffman-Jeep is a Kentucky Commonwealth Postdoctoral 1992), 3. Fellow in the Humanities at the University of Louisville. WOMAN'S ARTJOURNAL

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