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Original Western Union telegram sent by Frida Kahlo to Julien Levy, one page, 8 x 6.5, February 16, 1939. In full: "Julien my treasure couldn't write been ill kidney trouble still in American hospital exhibition all a mess only desire come back New York soon miss you beyond words portrait three moons always close sorry about Muriel Duchands wonderful I adore you." Signed in type at the conclusion, "Frida," and sealed with a lipstick-mark kiss. In very good to fine condition, with light toning and soiling.
This evocative telegram from Frida Kahlo to gallerist Julien Levy—sent on February 16, 1939, from her hospital bed in Paris—captures a pivotal and turbulent moment in her life. Kahlo had traveled to Europe following her first solo exhibition at Levy’s New York gallery in 1938, intending to show her work at the Galerie Renou & Colle under the sponsorship of Surrealist leader André Breton. The trip, however, quickly soured. Breton’s disorganization left the exhibition in disarray, and Kahlo found herself stranded in Paris with little support.
During this period, Kahlo’s personal life was equally strained: her marriage to Diego Rivera had deteriorated and would end in divorce later that year. While in Paris in early 1939, she fell gravely ill with a severe intestinal and kidney infection, leaving her bedridden for two weeks at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Feeling isolated and vulnerable—far from Mexico, Rivera, and her familiar circle—she wrote letters and sent telegrams, reaching out emotionally to close friends and former lovers such as Julien Levy and Nickolas Muray.
In this telegram, Kahlo speaks candidly of her illness, the chaos surrounding her Paris exhibition, and her longing for Levy (“miss you beyond words”). Sealed with a lipstick kiss, the message encapsulates the mixture of fragility, affection, frustration, and resilience that defined Kahlo’s Paris sojourn.
