John Weatherwax papers relating to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
name: label: Creator
content: Weatherwax, John M. (John Martin), 1900-1984
label: Names
content: Kahlo, Frida
label: Names
content: Packard, Emmy Lou, 1914-1998
label: Names
content: Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957
label: Names
content: Scheyer, Galka E.
label: Names
content: Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968
title: label: Topic
content: Popol vuh
topic: label: Topic
content: Artists -- California -- San Francisco
label: Topic
content: Mural painting and decoration, Mexican -- Influence
label: Topic
content: Mural painting and decoration, American -- Foreign influences
label: Topic
content: Mayas
label: Topic
content: Latino and Latin American artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Seema Weatherwax donated her husband's papers to the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution in 1988.
creator: label: Creator
content: Weatherwax, John M. (John Martin), 1900-1984
setName: label: See more items in
content: John Weatherwax papers relating to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
abstract: label: Summary
content: This small collection of scattered papers of American writer John Weatherwax (1900-1984) dates from 1928 to 1988 (bulk 1931-1933), and measures 0.4 liner feet. The papers document Weatherwax's relationship with Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. In 1931, John Weatherwax approached Rivera to illustrate his English translation of the Mayan story of creation, the Popol Vuh. Rivera agreed and produced twenty-four watercolor illustrations for the text. The papers contain Weatherwax's translation, "Seven Times the Color of Fire", as well as manuscript versions of two short stories he wrote about Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo entitled "The Queen of Montogomery Street" and "Diego". Also found within the collection are correspondence, manuscripts and notes, printed materials, and photographs.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: American writer John Weatherwax (1900-1984) was born in Aberdeen, Washington, and attended the University of Washington in Seattle for two years before going to Harvard College in 1921. His studies focused on English literature, business, mythology, and world literature. Weatherwax wrote a number of children's stories and, in 1934, co-authored with his sister and brother-in-law Gerald Strang, The Coming of the Animals, a series of California Native American stories.

Weatherwax met Mexican muralist Diego Rivera and painter Frida Kahlo in San Francisco when the couple stayed with sculptor Ralph Stackpole in his studio on Montgomery Street. Rivera was there to work on a commission to paint a mural for the San Francisco Stock Exchange. At the time Weatherwax was working on an English translation of the ancient Mayan codex, Popol Vuh, and asked Rivera if he would provide illustrations for the manuscript. Although the translation was never published, Rivera agreed and produced twenty-four watercolor illustrations for the text.

Weatherwax revealed his admiration for Diego and Frida by writing a manuscript entitled "The Queen of Montgomery Street" , a clever short story about Frida's and Diego's experiences in San Francisco. Probably written as a gift to the Rivera's, the central figures of "The Queen of Montgomery Street" where Diego as King and Frida as Queen. He also wrote a story entitled "Diego".
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.4 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1928-1988
label: Date
content: bulk 1931-1933
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.weatjohn
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Series 1: Correspondence, 1928-1988 (Box 1, 5 folders)

Series 2: Manuscripts and Notes, circa 1930-1971 (Box 1, 14 folders)

Series 3: Printed Material, 1931-1987 (Box 1, 4 folders)

Series 4: Photographs, circa 1930s, 1974 (Box 1, 3 folders)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processing was completed and the finding aid written by Rosa M. Fernandez in July, 2002, and updated in 2009 by Erin Corley. The collection was digitized in 2009 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: This site provides access to the papers of John Weatherwax relating to Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2009, and total 805 images.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: This small collection of scattered papers of American writer John Weatherwax (1900-1984) dates from 1928 to 1988 (bulk 1931-1933), and measures 0.4 liner feet. The papers document Weatherwax's relationship with Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. In 1931, John Weatherwax approached Rivera to illustrate his English translation of the Mayan story of creation, the Popol Vuh. Rivera agreed and produced twenty-four watercolor illustrations for the text. The papers contain Weatherwax's translation, "Seven Times the Color of Fire", as well as manuscript versions of stories he wrote about Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, including one entitled "The Queen of Montgomery Street". Also found are several draft manuscripts of stories concerning Diego Rivera, which include "Diego", "Diego, Galka and Toby", the latter about art dealer Galka Scheyer's visit to Diego Rivera's studio in San Francisco containing references to the Blue Rider exhibition she organized in the early 1930s of the work of the artists collective, the "Blue Four" (Dar Blaue Vier).

Also found within the collection is scattered correspondence, including letters from painter, printmaker, and muralist Emmy Lou Packard concerning Diego and Frida, two telegrams from American novelist Upton Sinclair to John Weatherwax, and a letter from the Russian filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein, to Rivera introducing Weatherwax. Additional manuscripts and notes, printed materials, and photographs are also found within the papers.