Intimate Letters Reveal Private Lives of Great Artists
A DailyArt Magazine feature explores the personal correspondence of renowned artists, including Auguste Rodin, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, and others. Rodin's letters to his wife Rose Beuret and mistress Camille Claudel reveal his tender and tumultuous relationships. Kahlo's letters to Diego Rivera and José Bartoli express passionate love. Picasso's poem to Marie-Thérèse Walter captures his obsession. Ilya Repin's letter to Vladimir Stasov describes his admiration for Leo Tolstoy. Rockwell Kent's letter to his wife Frances conveys loneliness. Fyodor Shekhtel's plea to Ivan Sytin details his poverty after the Russian Revolution. Dante Gabriel Rossetti's letter to his mother announces his marriage to Elizabeth Siddal. Patti Smith's letter to Robert Mapplethorpe, written shortly before his death, reflects on their bond.
Key facts
- Auguste Rodin married Rose Beuret in 1917, 25 days before her death.
- Camille Claudel worked as Rodin's assistant from 1881 and they had a 9-year affair.
- Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera had an on-and-off relationship lasting 27 years until her death in 1954.
- Pablo Picasso met Marie-Thérèse Walter in 1927 when she was 17 and he was married.
- Ilya Repin painted multiple portraits of Leo Tolstoy.
- Rockwell Kent was an American artist and illustrator who traveled frequently.
- Fyodor Shekhtel designed the Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal and many Moscow mansions.
- Elizabeth Siddal was the only woman artist in the 1857 Pre-Raphaelite exhibition.
- Robert Mapplethorpe died in 1989, days after Patti Smith wrote him a letter.
- The letters are featured on DailyArt Magazine.
Entities
Artists
- Auguste Rodin
- Camille Claudel
- Frida Kahlo
- Diego Rivera
- Pablo Picasso
- Marie-Thérèse Walter
- Ilya Repin
- Leo Tolstoy
- Rockwell Kent
- Frances Lee Kent
- Fyodor Shekhtel
- Ivan Sytin
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- Elizabeth Siddal
- Patti Smith
- Robert Mapplethorpe
- José Bartoli
- Vladimir Stasov
- Rose Beuret
- Olga Khokhlova
- Paulo Picasso
- Walter Howell Deverell
- William Holman Hunt
- Vasily Schapov
- Alexandra Derozhinskaya
- Levitan
- Vrubel
- Borisov-Musatov
- Roerich
- Korovin
- Serov
- Lev Fedorovich Shekhtel
- Ekaterina Fedorovna Shekhtel
- A.V. Lunacharsky
- Morozov
- Ryabushinsky
- von Derwies
Institutions
- Musée Rodin
- Tretyakov Gallery
- Archives of American Art
- Smithsonian Institution
- Johannesburg Art Gallery
- Tate
- DailyArt Magazine
- The Guardian
- Bon Marche
- Louvre
- Underwood
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Meudon
- Moscow
- Russia
- New York
- United States
- Alaska
- San Francisco
- Mexico
- Aze
- Tours
- Krasnoyarsk
- Presnensky District
- Montgomery Street
- South Africa
- Johannesburg