Frida Kahlo's Self-Portrait "El sueno (la cama)" Sets New $54.66 Million Record for Female Artist at Sotheby's Auction

Frida Kahlo's Self-Portrait Sold For $55 Million, A Record For Woman Artist

Kahlo's self-portrait entered Sotheby's auction with projections between $40-$60 million, ultimately achieving a groundbreaking price.

United States:

Legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo's self-portrait "El sueno (la cama)" or "The dream (The bed)" sold for an astounding $54.66 million at a New York auction on Thursday, establishing a new record for artwork by a female artist, according to Sotheby's auction house.

This remarkable sale surpasses the previous record held by American artist Georgia O'Keeffe, whose painting "Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1" from 1932 commanded $44.4 million in 2014.

Sotheby's announced via their X platform that Kahlo's masterpiece has become "the most valuable work by a woman artist ever sold at auction."

The auction house noted that this significant work was "painted in 1940 during a pivotal decade in her career, marked by her turbulent relationship with Diego Rivera."

The painting entered the auction with estimated valuations ranging from $40 million to $60 million. The identity of the buyer remains undisclosed.

This captivating artwork portrays the artist in slumber on a bed that appears suspended among clouds, beneath a skeleton with legs bound by dynamite sticks.

Anna Di Stasi, head of Latin American art at Sotheby's, described the painting to AFP as a "very personal" image in which Kahlo "merges folkloric motifs from Mexican culture with European surrealism."

Di Stasi also mentioned that the Mexican artist, who died at age 47 in 1954, "did not completely agree" with having her work categorized within the surrealist movement. However, "given this magnificent iconography, it seems entirely appropriate to include it" in this artistic tradition.

The record-breaking sale occurred just two nights after the auction house achieved another milestone when Austrian artist Gustav Klimt's painting fetched $236.4 million—becoming the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer," created between 1914 and 1916, depicts his main patron's daughter wearing a white imperial Chinese dress while standing before a blue tapestry adorned with Asian-inspired motifs.

The most expensive painting ever sold at auction remains "Salvator Mundi," attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which sold for $450 million in 2017.