A Recently Shared Letter From Frida Kahlo To Diego Rivera Details Her Struggle The Day Before Having Her Leg Amputated And It Will Break Your Heart
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera have been known for having one of the art world’s most notoriously turbulent marriages. Both artists were guilty of having multiple affairs and straying away from their marriage, breaking up and getting back together only to become one again. Yet, despite their hard times, the Mexican artists had a bond that transcended the ages and one that has stirred countless discussions about their passion and love.
In a series of love letters from Kahlo to Rivera published in The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait readers are given insight into both the anguish and longing that was woven into their marriage.
One letter, recently shared by the Instagram page @historycoolkids, shows a momentary rift in their marriage when Kahlo was preparing to have her leg amputated.
Written in 1953, the letter for Rivera was written while Kahlo was in the hospital.
It reads:
⣔Iâm writing this letter from a hospital room before I am admitted into the operating theatre. They want me to hurry, but I am determined to finish writing first, as I donât want to leave anything unfinished. Especially now that I know what they are up to. They want to hurt my pride by cutting a leg off. When they told me it would be necessary to amputate, the news didnât affect me the way everybody expected. No, I was already a maimed woman when I lost you, again, for the umpteenth time maybe, and still I survived.âŁ
âŁ
I am not afraid of pain and you know it. It is almost inherent to my being, although I confess that I suffered, and a great deal, when you cheated on me, every time you did it, not just with my sister but with so many other women. How did they let themselves be fooled by you?
Letâs not fool ourselves, Diego, I gave you everything that is humanly possible to offer and we both know that. But still, how the hell do you manage to seduce so many women when youâre such an ugly son of a bitch?
âŁ
The reason why Iâm writing is not to accuse you of anything more than weâve already accused each other of in this and however many more bloody lives. Itâs because Iâm having a leg cut off (damned thing, it got what it wanted in the end). I told you Iâve counted myself as incomplete for a long time, but why the fuck does everybody else need to know about it too? Now my fragmentation will be obvious for everyone to see, for you to see⊠Thatâs why Iâm telling you before you hear it on the grapevine. Iâm writing to let you know Iâm releasing you, Iâm amputating you. Be happy and never seek me again. I donât want to hear from you, I donât want you to hear from me. If there is anything Iâd enjoy before I die, itâd be not having to see your fucking horrible bastard face wandering around my garden.âŁ
âŁ
That is all, I can now go to be chopped up in peace.âŁ
âŁ
Good bye from somebody who is crazy and vehemently in love with you,âŁ
âŁ
Your Frida”
Despite the letter, Kahlo didn’t “amputate” Rivera out of her life completely.
In fact, in her last days, Kahlo lived with Rivera and even made a public appearance with him in a demonstration against the CIA invasion of Guatemala. After her death, Rivera stated that her loss was “the most tragic day of my life.” Three years after his death, Riva requested to have his ashes mixed with Kahlo’s (this despite the fact that he married again after her death). Instead, the Mexican government opted to inter his remains in Mexico City’s famous Rotunda of Illustrious Men.
The message from Kahlo is being celebrated by her fans on Instagram as the “best letter in history.”
Fans of Kahlo called her letter “badass” and the greatest they’d ever read. “She was such a talent and such a twisted soul,” one user wrote in the post’s comment sections.
That part where she wonders why Diego was able to be such a womanizer despite being an “ugly son of a bitch” does pretty much make her badass.
