The Lacuna

Shepherd lives in Rivera’s avant-garde house in Mexico City with two separate structures connected by a bridge; there is a big pink structure where Rivera lives and a small blue one where Kahlo lives. Despite its modernism, the structure has a tiny kitchen space for Shepherd to work in. On November 30, Kahlo moves back in with a small monkey. She is often sick in bed. Kahlo and Shepherd begin to build a relationship. On December 18, Shepherd tells Kahlo he was expelled from the Potomac Academy for “irregular conduct” with another student (sexual relations with Bull’s Eye). Based on this story, Frida gives him the nickname “Insólito” or “Sóli” for short. While Kahlo and Rivera both work hard at their paintings, they have Communists and artists over in the evenings to discuss politics and culture. Kahlo has an affair with one of them, a Japanese sculptor named Isamu Noguchi. One of the artists, Alfaro Siqueiros, is a Stalinist who clashes with Rivera before leaving to fight the fascists in the Spanish Revolution.

On August 29, Shepherd tells Rivera he enjoys writing and knows how to write and type in both English and Spanish. By October 1, Shepherd is working as Rivera’s typist.