Lot Description
Frida Kahlo (Mexican 1907-1954) Survivor inscribed by unknown hand 'Survivor by Frida Kahlo de Rivera' (inside the frame) and dedicated by Walter Pach 'Nikifora L. Pach from Walter Pach, this picture entitled Survivor by Frida Kahlo de Rivera, 151' (on the label on the reverse) oil on metal framed by artist in a handcrafted Oaxacan tin frame 6 5/8 x 4¾ in. (17 x 12 cm.) 16¾ x 14¾ in. (45.5 x 37.5 cm.) including frame Painted in 1938.
Provenance
Julien Levy Gallery, New York. Walter Pach collection, New York. Gift from the above to the present owner, Athens.
Literature
'Ribbon Around Bomb' in The New Yorker, 12 November 1938 (not illustrated). H. Prignitz-Poda, S. Grimberg and A. Kettenmann, Frida Kahlo: Das Gesamtwerk, Frankfurt am main: Verlag Neue Kritik, 1988, p. 241, no. 53 (not illustrated, misidentified as the same work as The Airplane Crash). S. Grimberg, Frida Kahlo The Still Lifes, London, Merrell Publishers, 2008, p. 64 (not illustrated).
Exhibited
New York, Julien Levy Gallery, Frida Kahlo (Frida Rivera), November 1st- 15th 1938, no. 25.
Lot Notes
On July 27, 1938, Frida Kahlo wrote to New York Gallery dealer Julien Levy on behalf of Diego Rivera: "My husband has asked me to tell you that he is unable to be ready for his exhibition in your galleries this fall because he has been ill for the past four months and unable to work." Unwittingly, she had opened the door that would lead to her first one-woman exhibition, during November 1-15, the dates that had been reserved for Rivera. The catalogue of her paintings listed Between the Curtains (1937), a large self-portrait, first, and Survivor (1938), a miniature of a pre-Columbian idol, last. The November 12 issue of The New Yorker reported that "Walter Pach was the first to buy a painting. It is called 'Survivor' and it consists of a Mexican idol looking lonely on a large field. This symbolizes [Kahlo explained] the survival of Mexico in a shaky world." The price of Survivor was listed as one hundred dollars. Frida Kahlo had arrived in New York for her exhibition with a guest list drawn up by Rivera, at the top of which were the names of Walter and Magda Pach. Also in her suitcase was a letter, "Al Pintor Walter Pach," dated "Octubre 11, 1938," written in Spanish by Rivera. Mi querido amigo Pach: Time has passed since I wanted to write to you but there is no worse correspondent in the world. There are plenty of excuses. No possible forgiveness for me. I take advantage of Frieda's trip to send you this letter and greet you, your wife, and son.... I recommend Frieda to you very much, as husband and as admirer of the painting that she makes, I share this admiration [with] illustrious compañeros, Breton, for example, is an enthusiast of Frieda's painting.... de su amigo, Diego Rivera. The significance of Pach in the lives of both Riveras is curious and cannot be overestimated. Painter, critic, curator, advisor to collectors such as the Arensbergs, Walter Pach had been responsible for bringing the Armory show to New York in 1913, and was the first to have written about Cézanne in the United States in 1908, and to lecture on van Gogh, etc. In 1916, Pach saw Rivera's painting done while in Europe, in Marius de Zayas's gallery on Fifth Avenue; but it was some eight years earlier, while living in Paris, when Pach had written enthusiastically to Luis de la Rocha about it. Pach was unaware that he was Rivera's friend and would show the letter to Diego. Rivera never forgot this, and in 1922, when Pach traveled to Mexico to lecture at the Universidad, they began a life-long friendship. Pach would come to his friend's defense time and again. When in 1932, Rivera's Detroit Institute of Arts murals were unveiled to unbridled criticism--The Detroit News editorial declared "the best thing to do would be to whitewash the entire work completely"--Pach ferociously wired from New York: "If these paintings are whitewashed, nothing can ever be done to whitewash America." Again, Pach proved faithful in May 1933 when Rivera's Rockefeller Center mural, Man at the Crossroads, was boarded up. As a leading voice of the art community, he initiated a correspondence with Mrs. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, with whom he had a friendly, working relationship, asking her to intercede on Rivera's behalf, pleading to at least allow him to finish the mural and leave it covered for later generations to decide its fate. It was unimaginable to Pach that the mural's fate was sealed and its destruction unavoidable. Remaining loyal to Rivera, he reiterated to a friend: "Diego is simply great--and his painting is immense." Julien Levy decided on the title Survivor based on "The surviver" (sic) and "El superviviente," the English and Spanish titles provided by Kahlo. Although not immediately apparent, Survivor is an ex-voto, painted in gratitude after having being granted a miracle. Kahlo had survived her first separation from Rivera in 1935, his affair with her youngest sister, his request for a divorce, her decision to commit suicide, and after all that, his return home: a mixed blessing, for sure. Survivor shares a similar emotional content with other works also shaped around these events: Self-Portrait with Curly Hair (1935), Me Alone (1937; lost), Memory (1937), I Belong to My Owner (1937; lost), and She Plays Alone (1938). The circumstances that generated the Survivor image clarify Kahlo's earlier description of the painting as mirroring her personal situation, her loneliness and survival in her own shaky world. The gateway of a ruinous dwelling stands abandoned on the horizon line of an empty plain; it reflects Kahlo's alienation. Long ago, this was the entrance to someplace; now, it is the threshold to nowhere. Kahlo's resilience is represented by a pre-Columbian vessel in the shape of a standing warrior from a burial site in Colima, the western region of Mexico. A crested helmet with ear flaps surrounds the spout projecting from the top of the figure's head into which Kahlo has placed an array of blue-green Quetzal feathers as a headdress. One can only guess why she chose feathers from this solitary bird known for not surviving in captivity. Generally, such warriors are depicted in a frozen pose holding a club with both hands; but this one is different. Although unarmed, he is not completely vulnerable; he stands in a threatening pose, right fist raised at an enemy that only he can see. Kahlo's choice of frame for Survivor poses a clever paradox. She used a tin frame made in Oaxaca, like those used to frame testimonies of devotion such as votive paintings. Religious objects of the poorest order-- such as crosses, milagritos, and other religious objects--made of this inexpensive metal are acquired by those who cannot afford costly silver. Although the painting's emotional content is about survival, tin is about destruction. Tin corrodes, tarnishes, is not resistant to time, and its symbolic value is its fleeting shine. It gives the false impression of being enduring like silver. Maybe that is why the warrior retains his threatening stance. Although he has survived, as a warrior he knows that conflict never really ends and he must continue protecting himself. He survived one battle but the war continues. It is known that after showing her work in New York, Kahlo traveled to Paris to present an exhibition. It is also known that on arrival she learned, much to her chagrin, that André Breton had neither collected her paintings from customs nor secured a gallery. What is not known is that Walter Pach saved the day when he contacted his old friend Marcel Duchamp, asking him to help Kahlo retrieve her paintings and find a gallery to exhibit them. From this show one of Frida Kahlo's self- portraits, The Frame, was acquired by the Louvre. Salomon Grimberg Dallas, Texas March 25, 2010
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