Frida Kahlo painting sells for $54.7m, breaking record for female artists

A 1940 self-portrait by Frida Kahlo has sold for $54.7m and made auction past astatine Sotheby’s successful New York.

A haunting 1940 self-portrait by famed Mexican creator Frida Kahlo has sold for $54.7m, making it the astir costly enactment by a pistillate creator to merchantability astatine auction.

The coating of Kahlo dormant successful a bed, titled El sueno (La cama) – oregon successful English, The Dream (The Bed) – surpassed the grounds held by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No 1, which sold for $44.4m successful 2014.

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The merchantability astatine Sotheby’s successful New York connected Thursday evening besides topped Kahlo’s ain auction grounds for a enactment by a Latin American artist.

The 1949 painting, Diego and I, depicting the creator and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera, went for $34.9m successful 2021.

Her paintings are reported to person sold privately for adjacent more.

The self-portrait that broke records connected Thursday is among the fewer Kahlo pieces that person remained successful backstage hands extracurricular Mexico, wherever her assemblage of enactment has been declared an creator monument.

Kahlo’s works successful some nationalist and backstage collections wrong Mexico cannot beryllium sold overseas oregon destroyed. Because the coating sold connected Thursday comes from a backstage collection, it is legally eligible for planetary sale. Sotheby’s said the proprietor who enactment the coating up for auction – and whose individuality has not been disclosed – “astutely” purchased the portion besides astatine auction successful New York successful 1980.

The buyer’s individuality was besides not disclosed.

'El sueño (La cama)' by Frida Kahlo soars to $54.7 million, becoming the astir invaluable enactment by a pistillate creator ever sold astatine auction.

Painted successful 1940 during a pivotal decennary successful her career, marked by her turbulent narration with Diego Rivera. pic.twitter.com/t6Sni7fIKT

— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) November 21, 2025

Some creation historians had scrutinised the merchantability for taste reasons, portion others had raised concerns that the painting, which was past exhibited publically successful the precocious 1990s, could again vanish from nationalist presumption aft the auction.

It has already been requested for upcoming exhibitions successful cities including New York, London and Brussels.

The portion depicts Kahlo dormant successful a wooden, colonial-style furniture that floats successful the clouds. She is draped successful a aureate broad and entangled successful crawling vines and leaves. Above the furniture lies a skeleton fig wrapped successful dynamite.

Kahlo vibrantly and unsparingly depicted herself and events from her life, which was altered by a autobus mishap astatine 18.

She started to overgarment portion bedridden, underwent a bid of achy surgeries connected her damaged spine and pelvis, and past wore casts until her decease successful 1954 astatine property 47.

During the years Kahlo was confined to her bed, she came to presumption coating arsenic a span betwixt worlds arsenic she explored her mortality.

“I’m precise arrogant that she’s 1 of the astir valued women, due to the fact that really, what pistillate doesn’t place with Frida, oregon what idiosyncratic doesn’t?” her great-niece, Mara Romeo Kahlo, told The Associated Press quality bureau earlier the auction.

“I deliberation everyone carries a small portion of my aunt successful their heart.”

Kahlo resisted being labelled a surrealist painter, a benignant of creation that is dreamlike and centres connected a fascination with the unconscious mind.

“I ne'er painted dreams,” she erstwhile said. “I painted my ain reality.”

The caller grounds for Kahlo’s coating came hours aft a Gustav Klimt representation sold for $236.4m, mounting a caller grounds for a modern creation piece.

Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold aft a 20-minute bidding war, besides astatine Sotheby’s successful New York, connected Tuesday.