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Frida Kahlo's *El sueño* sells for record $54.7m at auction
A surrealist self-portrait by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo fetched $54.7 million (£41.8 million) at a Sotheby's auction, setting a new record for the highest price paid for an artwork by a woman, the auction house announced Thursday.
A bidding war and a historic surge
The 1940s painting, El sueño (la cama) (The Dream (The Bed)), depicts Kahlo asleep beneath a canopy bed, a skeleton wrapped in dynamite hovering above her. After a fierce competition between two unidentified collectors, the final bid surpassed the previous record-$44 million for Georgia O'Keeffe's Jimson Weed / White Flower No.1-by over $10 million.
It also eclipsed Kahlo's own prior auction high of $34.9 million, set in 2021. The work's value has skyrocketed since it first sold at Sotheby's in 1980 for just $51,000-over 1,000 times less than Thursday's price.
A turbulent chapter captured on canvas
Painted during one of Kahlo's most volatile periods-amid her divorce and remarriage to Diego Rivera, and the assassination of her former lover, Leon Trotsky-the piece is among her most "psychologically charged" works, according to Sotheby's. The artist, who died in 1954, remains celebrated for her raw, introspective portraits, often reflecting her lifelong physical pain from childhood polio and a near-fatal bus accident in her teens.
Rarity and recognition
El sueño is one of the few Kahlo paintings available on the open market. Mexican authorities declared her works "artistic monuments" in the 1980s, restricting exports without government approval. Anna Di Stasi, Sotheby's head of Latin American art, called the sale "a testament to Kahlo's enduring genius and the growing recognition of women artists at the highest echelons of the market."
"This record-breaking result shows just how far we have come, not only in our appreciation of Frida Kahlo's genius, but in the recognition of women artists at the very highest level of the market."
Anna Di Stasi, Head of Latin American Art, Sotheby's
Cultural legacy beyond the canvas
Kahlo's life and art have transcended galleries, inspiring films like the 2002 biopic Frida, starring Salma Hayek, which explored her tumultuous marriage to Rivera and her resilience through chronic pain. Her works continue to command global attention, blending surrealism with deeply personal narratives.
