Frida Kahlo to Emmy Lou Packard in Spanish, 1941 Dec. 15. Letter. 28 x 22 cm. Emmy Lou Packard papers, [ca. 1940-1986]. Archives of American Art.
After her divorce from and subsequent reconciliation with Rivera in 1939, Kahlo was determined to subsist from the sale of her artwork, financially independent from Rivera. When the prospect of selling a painting to American art collector Walter G. Arensberg surfaced, Kahlo made all efforts to pursue Arensberg. Although his original interest was in her painting The Birth, she urgently asked Emmy Lou Packard to try and sway Arensberg, a friend of Packard's, to purchase a different painting since Kahlo had already sold The Birth to another collector, Edgar Kauffman.
" ... from what you tell about me Arensberg, I want you to tell them that Kaufmann has the painting The Birth. I would like him to buy the one of Me Suckling [My Nurse and I ] since they would give me a nice pile. Especially now since I am going about like a complete wretch. If you get the chance, go to bat for me with them, but do it as though it came from you. Tell them it is a painting that I painted at the same time as The Birth and you and Diego like it very much. ... I hope that you will encourage them to buy it from me, since you cannot imagine how much I need the bucks now (tell them it's worth 250 dollars)"
Created on ... Sept. 26, 2001