At the same time, the previous sales record for Kahlo's work, which amounted to $34.9 million (from 2021), was broken. The painting, titled “El sueño (La cama)” — which translates as “The Dream (The Bed)” — depicts Kahlo sleeping in a four-poster bed with a skeleton wrapped in dynamite floating above it.
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A symbol of the artist's pain and turbulent life
According to Sotheby's, it is one of Kahlo's most “psychologically intense” self-portraits and was created during an extremely turbulent period in her life – as the BBC writes, the artist worked on it in the year of her lover's murder and after her divorce and remarriage to Diego Rivera.
Frida Kahlo, who died in 1954, is today considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century. As the BBC writes, her work was steeped in personal suffering – from childhood polio to serious injuries after a bus accident that changed her life and body forever.
The head of Latin American art at Sotheby's, Anna Di Stasi, described the sale as a landmark event and noted that the result shows the growing awareness and appreciation of women's work in the art market.
“This record shows how far we have come – both in recognizing the genius of Frida Kahlo and in recognizing female artists at the highest levels of the market.” she said.
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Works by Frida Kahlo. National treasure of Mexico
As the BBC writes, the painting is one of the few works by Kahlo available to private collectors because Mexico has recognized her work as a national treasure and has been restricting exports for years.
For this sale the record for the most expensively auctioned work by a woman was held by Georgia O'Keeffe (Jimson Weed / White Flower No.1), sold for $44 million.
