Letter from Albert M. Bender to Frida Kahlo, Aug 30, 1935

Typewritten letter on yellowed paper with handwritten notes.
Creator
Albert M. Bender
Recipient
Frida Kahlo
Language
English

Overview

This letter is from Albert M. Bender (1866 to 1941), who was a German-Irish-American writer, an art collector, and one of the leading patrons of the arts in San Francisco in the 1920s and 1930s. In addition to being a good friend of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, he was also one of Rivera's first American patrons.

Original Document

Handwritten note on the back of the letter.
Page 2, Letter from Albert M. Bender to Frida Kahlo, Aug 30, 1935; NMWA, Archives of Women Artists; The Nelleke Nix and Marianne Huber Collection: The Frida Kahlo Papers, 1930-1954
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Transcription

Page 1 of 2 Transcription

[Personalized Letterhead]

ALBERT M BENDER
311 California Street
San Francisco

August 30, 1935

Dear Frieda:—

Thank you for your lovely letter. I enjoy
hearing from you very much and congratulate you on the
facility with which you write English. I am allowing
myself the privilege of sharing these letters with our
mutual friends who are always glad to hear about you and
Diego.

I wrote you last Monday that the picture had
been released from the Custom House and was placed in the
San Francisco Museum of Art where everyone who sees it is
delighted with it. I would go so far as to say that such
a picture deserves the appreciation of all art lovers and
is one of the finest, if not the finest, of the panel
pictures I have seen of Diego’s. I am very grateful to
him and to you for your understanding of what I am trying
to do and for your invaluable cooperation. The frame is
being made and will be finished on Monday, after which the
picture will be placed on exhibition for the public to see
it. You and Diego can feel assured that there will be a
unanimous verdict about its merits.

I mailed the check to the old address and
hope that you have notified the Postmaster of your change
of residence. Let me know immediately if you have received
it.

I am delighted to know that you and Diego liked
your coats. If there is anything here that I can do for you
at any time you and he have but to let me know. I am telling
all the friends you mention of your kind interest in their
welfare, feeling they will be most pleased to hear about you.

I send my love to you and Diego and believe
me with every good wish and kind thought

Yours affectionately

[Handwritten signature]
Albert M Bender

Frieda Rivera
Palmas 2. Villa Obrejon
Mexico D.F.

Page 2 of 2 Transcription

[Handwritten note on the back of the letter]

P.S. The morning paper mentions
Diego as carrying a gun
against an insulting political
opponent. I hope it is not
true. There are lots of
politicians in Mexico but
only one Diego Rivera.

Do not forget to send me
the photograph with his
writing on it, please

Albert B.