Diego, My Love: Frida Kahlo’s Tender Letter of Devotion
Love, Art, and Turmoil
The relationship between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera has often been described as one of the most passionate and tumultuous romances in art history. Married in 1929, divorced in 1939 and remarried later that same year, theirs was a bond fueled by intense love, shared artistic vision and frequent conflict.
By 1940, Frida was living through both personal and physical struggles. She had been hospitalized multiple times for the lingering effects of polio and a horrific bus accident in her youth. Yet even through pain, she kept her pen moving; sending notes, sketches and letters to Diego that reveal the depth of her longing and devotion.
It was during this period, while Diego was working on a fresco commission at Treasure Island in San Francisco, that Frida left behind one of her most tender letters.
The Letter
Full Transcription (Translated from Spanish)
“
Diego, my love
Remember that once you finish the fresco we will be together forever once and for all, without arguments or anything, only to love one another.
Behave yourself and do everything that Emmy Lou tells you.
I adore you more than ever.
Your girl, Frida (Write me)
[signed with a kiss]
“
Frida Kahlo’s handwritten note to Diego Rivera, 1940.
Why This Letter Matters
A Moment of Tenderness in Turmoil
Frida wrote this while she was under medical observation at St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco. Despite illness, distance and the couple’s history of quarrels and betrayals, her note radiates hope, tenderness and an almost childlike plea for peace: “without arguments or anything, only to love one another.”
The Weight of a Few Words
The letter is brief but every line carries meaning. Frida’s playful instruction: “Behave yourself and do everything that Emmy Lou tells you”; shows her trust in their friend, the artist Emmy Lou Packard, who was assisting Diego in his studio. It’s a blend of affection, humor and devotion.
Preservation Through Friendship
That the letter survives today is thanks to Emmy Lou Packard herself. She kept it safe, ensuring that this intimate slice of history wasn’t lost. Small acts of preservation like this remind us that letters often outlive the moments they were meant for, becoming part of collective cultural memory.
Frida, Diego and the Language of Letters
Frida Kahlo was no stranger to pouring her heart onto paper. Across her lifetime, she wrote dozens of letters to Diego, friends and family. Letters that revealed her artistic frustrations, her political convictions, her pain and her overwhelming love.
This note, though one of the shortest, distills all of those emotions into a few intimate sentences. It is not the grand, fiery Frida we see in her paintings, but the vulnerable woman who wanted nothing more than peace and love with the man she couldn’t live without.
A Lettre Reflection
At Lettre, we believe letters like this are timeless. They show us that writing doesn’t need to be long to be powerful. A handful of sentences, written in Frida’s hand, carry more weight than volumes could. They remind us that love, in its purest form, often speaks softly.
This is why we preserve and share these fragments of history: not just as art objects but as living testimonies of what it means to be human.
Final Thoughts
Frida Kahlo’s letter to Diego Rivera is not simply a note between lovers. It is a moment frozen in ink, a testament to love’s resilience through pain, distance and chaos.
It reminds us that sometimes the most enduring stories are not in the murals, the canvases, or the manifestos: but in a folded piece of paper, left behind in a studio, carrying words meant for one person but echoing across generations.
