A self-portrait by legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has shattered auction records, selling for $54.66 million at Sotheby's in New York on Thursday. The sale establishes a new benchmark for the most expensive painting by a female artist ever sold at auction, surpassing the previous record held by American artist Georgia O'Keeffe.
The artwork, titled "El sueño (la cama)" which translates to "The Dream (The Bed)," was painted in 1940 during what experts consider a pivotal decade in Kahlo's artistic career. The painting broke the previous record set by O'Keeffe's 1932 masterpiece "Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1," which sold for $44.4 million in 2014. Sotheby's confirmed the historic sale in a statement, emphasizing that "Kahlo's painting is the most valuable work by a woman artist ever sold at auction."
The auction house had estimated the painting's value between $40 million and $60 million before the sale, and the identity of the buyer remains undisclosed. The artwork depicts the artist sleeping peacefully in a bed that appears to float among clouds in the sky, with a skeleton lying above her whose legs are wrapped with sticks of dynamite. This haunting imagery reflects Kahlo's unique artistic vision and personal struggles.
"This painting is a very personal image, in which Kahlo merges folkloric motifs from Mexican culture with European surrealism," explained Anna Di Stasi, head of Latin American art at Sotheby's, in an interview. The 1940 work was created during a turbulent period marked by Kahlo's complicated relationship with fellow artist Diego Rivera, adding emotional depth to the piece's significance.
Di Stasi noted that while Kahlo herself did not completely agree with her work being categorized within the surrealist movement, the painting's magnificent iconography makes it entirely appropriate to include it in this artistic tradition. The Mexican artist, who died in 1954 at the young age of 47, left behind a legacy of deeply personal and culturally rich artwork that continues to captivate collectors and art enthusiasts worldwide.
This record-breaking sale came just two nights after Sotheby's achieved another historic milestone with the auction of Gustav Klimt's work. The Austrian artist's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer," painted between 1914 and 1916, sold for an astounding $236.4 million, making it the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. The painting depicts the daughter of Klimt's main patron dressed in a white imperial Chinese dress, standing before a blue tapestry decorated with Asian-inspired motifs.
Despite these remarkable sales, the title of most expensive painting ever sold at auction still belongs to "Salvator Mundi," attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which was purchased for $450 million in 2017. The recent success of works by Kahlo and Klimt demonstrates the continued strong demand for masterpieces by historically significant artists in the international art market.
