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A self-portrait by legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $54.66 million(₺2.32 billion), establishing a new record for the highest price ever paid at auction for a work by a woman, the auction house announced Thursday.
The 1940 painting, titled El sueno (La cama) (“The Dream (The Bed)”), depicts Kahlo lying in a bed that appears to float among clouds, beneath a skeleton whose legs are bound with sticks of dynamite. The work combines Mexican folkloric motifs with European surrealist elements, reflecting the artist’s deeply personal vision.
“This painting, executed during a pivotal decade in Kahlo’s career, captures the intensity of her life and art,” said to AFP Anna Di Stasi, Head of Latin American Art at Sotheby’s. “It is a highly personal work that merges folk culture with surrealist imagery, highlighting the complexity and originality of her artistic vision.”
The previous auction record for a female artist was held by American painter Georgia O’Keeffe, whose 1932 work Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 sold for $44.4 million in 2014.
Kahlo’s painting had an estimated auction range of $40 million to $60 million. The identity of the buyer has not been disclosed. Sotheby’s noted that the painting had previously sold in 1980 for $51,000, underscoring its appreciation in value over the decades.
The sale took place shortly after another high-profile auction at Sotheby’s, where Austrian artist Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold for $236.4 million, the second-highest price ever recorded at auction. The most expensive painting ever sold remains Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which fetched $450 million in 2017.
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