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News Tue Jul 19 2011
One Macabre Object
Local auction house Leslie Hindman Auctioneers has gotten their hands on a pretty incredible object, art historically speaking, and it's expected to sell for over $20,000 at Leslie Hindman on August 9. Although it is essentially a beat-up old book full of notes and doodles, it is special because they are the doodles of Frida Kahlo, inspired by the the book, which is The Work of Edgar Allen Poe.
From the press release:
The most interesting inscription appears at the beginning of the book, where Frida has the written following in crayon: Pues si, Frida Kahlo, Auxocromo Cromoforo, 1922, 1945, 23, 12, 35, always. A close reading, offered by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernist expert, Luis-Martin Lozano, points directly to Frida's relationship with her husband, Diego Rivera: Frida Kahlo met Diego Rivera in 1922; she wrote in the book in 1945; she met Diego when she was 12 (actually 15, but she claimed she was born in 1910 to appear younger) and he was 35; the 23 refers not only to the years between when Frida wrote in the book and when she met Diego (1922-1945), but also to their difference in age. These numbers and connections are coupled with the word always and the symbol for infinity. Auxocromo Cromoforo, a phrase repeated at the end of selected poems throughout, further alludes to Frida's relationship with Rivera; the phrase first appeared in a poem Frida wrote in her diary, which translates: My Diego, Mirror of the Night ... You could be called Auxocromo - the one who takes color. I Cromoforo - the one who gives the color. You are all the combinations of the numbers.
Pondering the fact that this book exists and is being sold down the street from my house in August leaves me with one clear question: Can I borrow $30k?