2152 Leavenworth Street
House on Russian Hill in San Francisco. In Hayden Herrera’s Frida it is the home of Dr. Leo Eloesser, where Frida painted his portrait in 1931.
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frida | Hayden Herrera | setting | Dr. Leo Eloesser’s home, scene of his chamber-music evenings and of Frida’s portrait of him. |
Frida — Hayden Herrera (1983)
Source: Frida - A Biography of Frida Kahlo · Original · Readwise highlight
Frida Kahlo de Rivera painted it at my home at 2152 Leavenworth St., during the Riveras’ first visit to San Francisco.
- Role: setting
- In the book: In San Francisco Frida befriends Eloesser, a thoracic and bone surgeon who in December 1930 diagnoses her scoliosis and a missing vertebral disk, and whose medical advice she trusts above all others for the rest of her life. His weekly chamber-music evenings at his Leavenworth Street apartment draw musicians such as Isaac Stern and Pierre Monteux. In a 1968 note, quoted here, Eloesser says she painted Portrait of Dr. Leo Eloesser at this address.
- Why it matters: The friendship begun here becomes one of the most important in Frida’s life, and the portrait, an early work in a naïve provincial style, marks her move away from Rivera’s influence.