Kahlo, Frida

2 pages (12 3/4 x 9 1/2 in; 325 x 240 mm) on the red cover of her sketch book. On the cover, Frida Kahlo sketched a small drawing and signed twice, "Frida Kahlo, 1938" and "F.K. Rivera". 

Gift from Ruth Rivera Marin to the family of the present owner, Consuelo Eckhardt Taracena.

Frida Kahlo, the unknown Frida, the woman behind the work: an unedited, private collection of letters from Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera, and other documents. October 12-November 9, 1991, Louis Newman Galleries, Los Angeles. 

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In 1937, John Dewey created a commission to defend Trotsky against the trials held in Moscow. The members of the Commission went to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's Casa Azul in Coyoacan to conduct Trotsky's hearings from April 10 to April 17, 1937.

This text was intended for Leon Trotsky ("U[ste]d"), questioning his thoughts on the proceedings of the Dewey Commission ("Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials"). 

Frida Kahlo wrote 17 questions concerning the failure of the Commission and the consequences on the future of Communism. If the aim of the 17 questions are not clear - a publication? a press conference? - Frida Kahlo broached subjects including Stalin's reputation after the Moscow trials, the role of the United States and Europe in the future of Communism, Trotsky's opinions on the Revolution, Terrorism and a comparison between Communism and Fascism: "Cree u[ste]d que la decision del P. Roosevelt de acoger a los Trostkistas (...) como refugiados politicos de los E[stados] U[nidos] ha sido influida por el fallo de la Comision presidida por el Prof Dewey filosofo nacional de los E.U., y por las evidencias de falsificacion stalinista puesta a luz por los ultimos procesos de Moscú"; "Que noticias tiene sobre el efecto del fallo de la Comisión sobre el público americano y europeo"; "Que puede hacer el tribunal contra el terrorismo creado por Litonov"; "Proque la prensa de Mexico no ha dicho nada cuando los periodicos de E[stados] U[nidos] y Europa han llevado columnas en primer plano"...

When he went into exile in 1936, Trotsky met Kahlo and Rivera, some even claiming that he had an affair with the artist. When Trotsky was assassinated by Mercader in 1940, Kahlo was held by the police for two days of interrogation.