In 2005 I had the opportunity to work with the
San Francisco General Hospital Foundation, UCSF Medical Center Dean's office,
Consul General of Mexico in San Francisco ,
Museo Frida Kahlo, and
Museo Dolores Olmedo in negotiating the restoration and loan of a pair of paintings "La
Tortillera", painted in 1926 by Rivera and
Kahlo's 1931 "Portrait of Dr. Leo
Eloesser. The paintings were loaned to
Museo Frida Kahlo for an exhibition exploring her friendship with Dr.
Eloesser and was called The Three Friends.
I followed the paintings on their journey to the
Museo de Frida Kahlo exhibition. It was an emotional exchange as it was
Frida's painting's first visit to Mexico. The experience changed my l
ife and she has become an inspiration to me and the creation of this blog is to share my passion with others who are interested in discovering
Frida in San Francisco.
The paintings hang in lobby of San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center at 1001
Potrero Avenue (between 22
nd St & 23rd St) in San Francisco.
Top left: Portrait of Dr. Eloesser by Frida Kahlo, 1931
Bottom right: La Tortillera by Diego Rivera, 1926
Yesterday was the closing day of San Jose Museum of Art's Frida Kahlo exhibition. Unfortunately it was not well advertised as the central piece was by artist Rachel-Anne Palacios. 
She re-created a larger-than-life version of the self-portrait Frida made for Trotsky. Exhibition attendees were then invited to create butterflies with messages for Frida or anyone they wanted to remember. These were pinned to the curtains, creating a cloud of beautiful colors. 
There are so many that each day the staff removed the old butterflies to make room for new ones. Rachel is going to save some and hopefully take them to Museo Frida Kahlo. The rest will be burned in a ceremony to commemorate Frida. 
