The Un-chosen Artist, Frida Kahlo, @ the Jewish Press

September 25th, 2007 by Menachem Wecker

My article on the controversy surrounding Frida Kahlo’s faith is in this week’s Jewish Press.

After the column was submitted, I receive the following email from Gaby Franger and Rainer Huhle, authors of “Frida’s Father: The Photographer Wilhelm Kahlo” (Schirmer, 2005), cited in the piece:

Dear Mr. Wecker,

please allow me to contest you the mail you sent to Gaby Franger. We understand very well that you are surprised that the legend of Frida/Guillermo Kahlos Jewish descent is so persistent, because so are we.

Let me first answer your question for the facts and then try an explanation.

There can be absolutely no doubt that the Kahlo family - paternal and maternal sides - were of German origin and members of the Lutheran Church. We found the respective baptism and other documents that leave no room for doubts. Its all documented, even in facsimile, in our book. We also write in our book that so far there is no serious source to prove that Frida Kaho herself ever affirmed she was Jewish. It’s all hearsay and copying from one spurious source to another.

We are not media people but just researchers, with the probably naive idea that information that is published in a serious way is either accepted or refuted by arguments. So far nobody has questioned or findings, so if they are ignored, it must be for some interest, we don’t know.

Why do we not insist in our findings and enter in more public debate? For once because we think people should first read what is published and then put forward their opinions. But foremostly because we do not think that this is a sane and importan debate. We cannot find any additional value - or any belittlement - in either Frida or Guillermo Kahlo’s work that would depend on their Jewishness or any other religious believe. We strongly advocate for focussing the interest in their work and not in their religion, ethnicity or any other such feature. A Jewish art critic wrote, after having heard of our findings, that now the Lutherans seem to take away the Jewish community an appreciated artist. We just cannot understand this kind of thinking in “ours” and “theirs”, and we certainly do not reclaim Frida or Guillermo Kahlo for nobobdy.

So far, many people have asked us for our opinion about these matters, but nobody has invited us to write about it. So if you think that it would be necessary or appropiate to give our opinion about this trouble with the Kahlo Jewish idientity, we would certainly be ready to write about it, be it in a Jewish review or in some other place.

I hope this is of some help for your inquiry,

Best wishes,

Rainer Huhle and Gaby Franger

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