Famous Love Letters of Elizabeth Taylor and Frida Kahlo in Handwriting

The Story of Two Famous love letters

Is it possible that the passionate temperaments of both Elizabeth Taylor and Frida Kahlo were reflected not only in their respective love affairs but that their passion also drove them to reach the heights of achievement in their careers?

In these two famous love letters we have proof of the fire and passion that drove them.

Love is far from being the motivating influence in the world today. We are living at a time when love seems to be absent. Even movies and games are mostly about violence these days because they reflect the society in which we live.

But Shakespeare penned a different view about love more than 4 centuries ago:

‘Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds
Or bends with the remover to remove
O no it is an ever fixed mark
A guide to every wandering bark’

We all change over time. Life changes us and we begin to lose the beauty of our youth. But true love endures through youth and old age; and it can remain constant no matter what changes the loved one undergoes.”

So what has this to do with handwriting you may ask?

A great deal! Because handwriting captures the emotion of the moment. And because the handwriting samples of these two very different women have immortalised and held for posterity the passionate expression of their love.

Elizabeth Taylor

In 1949 Elizabeth Taylor, the very beautiful and famous actress became engaged at the age of 17 to William Pawley Junior, the son of a wealthy American ambassador.

Here is a letter she wrote to her fiancé.

Her t-bars show a lot of vigour and persistence – she was emphatic about her commitment and was not prepared to give him up without a fight.

The extreme forward slant shows her deep involvement and desire to speak what was in her heart. And then there are those very well-developed lower loops that speak of her awakened sensuality.

Picture: dailymail.co.uk

Unfortunately the relationship eventually turned sour and she was forced to consider returning the ring.

So you see, the emotion in a love letter stays alive even if the letter goes yellow with age – as we see in the following love letter by the exotic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo

Here is a portrait of the exotic Mexican artist photographed by her lover Nickolas Murray in the bright colours that we associate with her.

Frida Kahlo by Nickolas Muray (Brooklyn Museum

Frida Kahlo was an amazing woman who defeated enormous odds but remained positive and upbeat despite having to put up with a great deal of physical trauma.

Following is an excerpt from Maria Popova’s wonderful blog at www.brainpickings.org

“At a young age, she contracted polio, which left her right leg underdeveloped — an imperfection she’d later come to disguise with her famous colourful skirts. A decade later, as one of only thirty-five female students at Mexico’s prestigious Preparatoria school, she was in a serious traffic accident

“It took her three months in full-body cast to recover and though she eventually willed her way to walking again, she spent the rest of her life battling frequent relapses of extreme pain and enduring frequent hospital visits, including more than thirty operations.

“As a way of occupying herself while bedridden, Kahlo made her first strides in painting — then went on to become one of the most influential painters in modern art.”

A remarkable story about the triumph of the human spirit.

Frida Kahlo’s Handwriting

While the expression on her face in the photograph is somewhat enigmatic, her handwriting reveals the colour, passion and fire that were the hallmark of her personality.

So here is Frida Kahlo’s handwriting.

Picture from Maria Popova’s Brainpickings.org

Frida Kahlo loved colour and this is reflected in the pastocity of her handwriting. She was a free-spirited artist with a vibrant personality and this is certainly reflected in her handwriting. The variation of pressure and width of stroke says more to the graphologist than any picture.

But there is also an appealing sincerity and a surprising childlike quality in her rather unpretentious and open handwriting. The large, round middle zone shows warmth as well as an emotional quality that we can also see in her portraits.