At the top of the original painting, a banner held by an angel declared,"The Suicide of Dorothy Hale, painted at the request of Clare Booth Luce, for the mother of Dorothy. History has recorded that Dorothy Hale, the widow of American muralist Gardner Hale, died in New York City on October 21, 1938 after plunging sixteen stories from her apartment window at the Hampshire House on Central Park South. Her work in the film industry began when she started typing scripts for the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which would later become Paramount. A life contains the elements of all lives, and if one penetrates to the bottom of it, one comes across abysmal depths, dizzying heights, and infinite ramifications that spread into the centuries of light and shadow of life.3(p233). Her last painting, completed 8 days before her death of a pulmonary embolism, is a whimsical still life of luscious red watermelons, the favorite Mexican fruit.  L. Baddeley 1). El suicidio de Dorothy Hale (Suicide of Dorothy Hale), Grief and the Healing Arts: Creativity as Therapy. Living in Arizona at the time, she donated it anonymously to the Phoenix Art Museum. The Suicide of Dorothy Hale ​ is an oil on Masonite panel with painted frame executed by iconic twentieth-century artist Frida Kahlo (Fig. It could be argued to be either a suicide or a murder. Her barefoot body and its shadow protrude into the inscription panel where blood-red lettering records the facts: "In the city of New York on the 21st day of the month of October, 1938, at six o'clock in the morning, Mrs. Dorothy Hale committed suicide by throwing herself out of a very high window of the Hampshire House building. Terms of Use| Dorothy Hale died on October 21, 1938. She chose a dramatic exit, and Frida painted it with monumental realism. Harry Hopkins did eventually marry Lou Macy, but this was long after Dorothy's death. Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), Mexican. She stares out at us as blood trickles out of her nose, ear, and mouth and onto the frame of the picture. Booth Luce had been lending Dorothy money for the rent for her expensive top-floor suite at Hampshire House and mistakenly thought that Dorothy had used this money to buy another expensive new dress at Bergdorf Goodman.1 She felt betrayed but discovered after Dorothy's death that she was mistaken when she learned that the money for the new dress had come from Bernard Baruch, whom Dorothy had gone to for help in seeking a job. “In New York City on the 21st of October 1938, at 6:00 in the morning, Dorothy Hale committed suicide by throwing herself from a very high window in the Hampshire House.  J The Wood of Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides. The tradition of posthumous mourning painting and photography is predicated on the belief that the pain of loss is ameliorated as the evidence and memories are preserved. Her nickname was Donovan Dorothy. FRIDA KAHLO CALDERÓN (1907-1954) was born in Coyoacán, a suburb of Mexico City, Mexico, to a Hungarian-German father and Spanish–Mexican Indian mother.  O Her dress hangs here: defrocking the Kahlo cult. Like her earlier painting of a woman's murder, A Few Small Nips, this painting depicts a frightening image of a woman's violent death. Dorothy Hale was born Dorothy Donovan in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In her memory, this portrait was executed by Frida Kahlo.” After her husband was killed in a car accident, she had a few unsuccessful relationships and her career was failing. The painting, although measuring only 20 x 16 inches, is incredibly powerful in its depiction of Hale’s violent demise. In admiration, Picasso wrote that he could not "paint a head like those of Frida Kahlo."2(p130). Montes Guillen, 21, died after he was thrown to the ground by Hale’s vehicle after being part of a group of bystanders attempting to stop Hale from driving, Paso Robles police said at the time. . Dorothy’s death was ruled a suicide. I recommend her to you, not as a husband but as an enthusiastic admirer of her work, acid and tender, hard as steel and delicate and fine as a butterfly's wing, loveable as a beautiful smile, and profound and cruel as the bitterness of life.1(p229). Dorothy Hale was an American socialite and aspiring actress who killed herself by jumping off a building in New York City. Kahlo's and the 8th graders' viewers are forced to take notice by the in-your-face frontality of the victims and the journalistic details of the compositions. Mary Hills … They went on to raise two children. But their names were on the dead body of Mrs. Dorothy Hunt, according to an article in the Oct. 3, 1975 Washington Post. In her memory [words apparently painted out] this 'retablo,' executed by Frida Kahlo." Booth Luce deeply regretted her behavior and emotional coldness that preceded her friend's suicide. In her memory,[section deleted] . A new curator at the museum traced its origins, thus ending her anonymity. ", I could not have requested such a gory picture of my worst enemy, much less of my unfortunate friend was patron Luce's horrified response. As a child, she had polio involving her right leg but recovered sufficiently to engage actively in sports. All Rights Reserved. In her imagination she would pass through it and travel to the middle of the earth to join an imaginary, joyful companion, share secrets with her, and watch her dance, then happily return through the same door, watching her companion disappear as she erased it.  D Frida Kahlo and Mexican art. A 1942 graduate from the former DeVilbiss High School, she married Albert E. Hale … Dorothy Hale is an American act and Ziegfeld showgirl. She said, "As soon as I saw my mother [after the accident] I said to her: I'm still alive and besides, I have something to live for, and that something is painting. 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