Nickolas Muray (15 February 1892 - 2 November 1965) was a Hungarian-born American photographer and Olympic fencer. Muray attended a graphic arts school in Budapest, where he studied lithography, photoengraving, and photography. In 1913, with the threat of war in Europe, Muray sailed to New York City. Muray quickly became recognized as an important portrait photographer, and his subjects included most of the celebrities of New York City. In 1926, Vanity Fair sent Muray to London, Paris, and Berlin to photograph celebrities, and in 1929 hired him to photograph movie stars in Hollywood. He also did fashion and advertising work. Muray's images were published in many other publications, including Vogue, Ladies' Home Journal, and The New York Times. Between 1920 and 1940, Nickolas Muray made over 10,000 portraits. His 1938's portrait of Frida Kaho, made while Kahlo sojourned in New York, attending her exhibit at the Julien Levy Gallery, became the best known and loved portrait made by Muray.
“My Bartolí…I don’t know how to write love letters. But I wanted to tell you that my whole being opened for you. Since I fell in love with you everything is transformed and is full of beauty…. love is like an aroma, like a current, like rain. You know, my sky, you rain on me and I, like the earth, receive you. Mara” — Frida Kahlo, October 1946 Read more at http://observer.com/2015/04/passion-penned-frida-kahlos-intimate-love-letters-of-an-illicit-affair-up-for-sale/#ixzz3YG4hFCq7 Follow us: @newyorkobserver on Twitter | newyorkobserver on Facebook Josep Bartolí, the last love of Frida Kahlo. In 1946 Frida Kahlo wrote a letter to her friend Ella Wolfe, in which she asked, "not to talk to anyone about this topic". This referred to her last great love, Josep Bartolíi (1910 - 1995), a Catalan painter. Frida Kahlo wrote about Josep Bartolí: "He's the only reason that gives me the desire to live." From 1946 to 1952 an intense love relationship grew between Frida Kahlo and Josep Bartolí, this love was known only to a few friends and accomplices. Painting: Self portrait miniature, 1946, Oval Miniature on wood, 4,1 x 3,8 cm, Original: Private Collection, New York, USA; Licensed replica: ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2008 Photo: Josep Bartolí. Un creador a l'exili - DVD original que realiza la función de catálogo; Caricaturista político, dibujante, ilustrador, pintor, escritor…; DVD original que realiza la función de catálogo de una exposición propiciada por el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona durante los meses de diciembre de 2003 y enero de 2004. Producido por MetrònomLab Josep Bartolí was a quiet man who kept the secret known only to few of his friends while Frida wrote to her friend Ella Wolfe in New York: "No one here knows anything, only Cristi (Cristina, Frida´s sister), Enrique (Frida driver), you and I know the person who is at stake." To further hide their relationship, she wrote to Ella: "If you want to ask about him in your letters, ask for the name Sonja.'' At the end of the letter, Frida wrote: "Don't forget to destroy this letter in order to avoid future misunderstandings. Will you promise that? ". "Frida is the love of my life." Josep said of Frida; she is very sweet, loving, romantic. She is very intelligent and a great artist. " You may say that I really love him " Frida wrote in her letter to Ella. Josep Bartolí kept all 40 letters of Frida throughout his life, one was able to recognize the letters of Frida by their perfume, and Josep Bartolí could repeat every word, every line of the letters by heart, as they were imprinted in his memory. As Josep Bartolí died in 1995, his family found a chest with his memories of Frida: her hair ribbons, scarves, letters, sketches and a small medallion that Frida had painted and given to him. On the back of the miniature Frida Kahlo wrote in red: CON AMOR PARA BARTOLI - MARA "For Bartoli, with love. Mara ". Mara was the secrete name Frida signed her love letters to Bartoli. Mara as "Maravilla" (Wonderful in Spanish). 60 years ago on July 13th, in the first hours of the morning when everyone was sleeping in the Blue House, Frida Kahlo died in her Casa Azul in Coyoacán, Mexico City. It seems that shortly before her death she prepared herself to let go: a few days before Frida died she gave Diego a ring as a gift for their 25th wedding anniversary. When Diego asked why she was giving it to him so early instead of waiting for the anniversary date of August 21st, Frida replied "because I feel I am going to leave you very soon". Six days before dying she managed to get up from her bed and write on a painting with watermelons: “Frida Kahlo, Coyoacán 1954 Mexico” and the iconic “Viva la Vida”. This is the last painting Frida signed and this is the last message she wanted us to have: VIVA LA VIDA! No matter how arduous and painful life can be, Frida message is a celebration of life, indeed she lived her life to the fullest, never letting the circumstances have the best of her. Once she wrote: “the meaning of life is to live”, and she just did that against all odds. Her last entry in her diary was: “Espero alegre la salida y espero no volver jamás", I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to return - Frida. Photo: Painting left: #135: Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with Stalin, 1954, Oil on masonite, 59 x 39 cm, Painting right: #137: Frida Kahlo, Viva la Vida, Watermelons, 1954, Oil on masonite, 59,5 x 50,8 cm. Licensed replica by ©Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2008. Photo taken in the Kunstmuseum Gehrke-Remund, Baden-Baden, Germany Photo: (c) Kunstmuseum Gehrke-Remund, Germany |