A self-portrait by Frida Kahlo becomes the most expensive painting by a woman ever sold at auction

A self-portrait by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sold for $54.6 million at Sotheby’s in New York, setting the world record for a painting by a woman. The work, The Dream (La chambre), depicts the artist floating in her bed through the sky, overseen by a massive skeleton whose legs are wrapped in dynamite sticks.

Although works by women surpassing $30 million still represent only 1% of the market, this result surpasses the previous record held by American painter Georgia O’Keeffe, whose Jimson Weed / White Flower No.1 reached $44.4 million in 2014. The identity of the buyer has not been disclosed.

A deeply personal work

Painted in 1940, during a crucial decade in Kahlo’s career marked by her tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera, the painting reflects her singular approach: a fusion of Mexican folk motifs with European surrealism. Presented by Sotheby’s at its new flagship in New York, the Breuer Building, a modernist Manhattan landmark recently reopened to the public after years as part of the Whitney Museum, the painting is considered one of the artist’s most personal works.

Anna Di Stasi, Sotheby’s head of Latin American art, explains that although Kahlo never fully embraced the Surrealist movement, the iconography of the painting, particularly the large skeleton above the bed, inspired by a papier-mâché object she actually owned, justifies its inclusion in this context.

Pain and death as central themes

Frida Kahlo’s fragile health shaped her entire life: she suffered from polio as a child and endured a serious bus accident in 1925. These hardships, together with recurring themes of pain and death, are vividly expressed in The Dream (La chambre).

Women artists remain rare at the top of the market

Works by women achieving such high results remain exceptional. Beyond Georgia O’Keeffe, notable records include Louise Bourgeois’ sculpture Spider, sold for $32.5 million in 2023, Kahlo’s self-portrait Diego y yo at $34.9 million in 2021, Tamara de Lempicka’s Portrait of Marjorie Ferry at $21.2 million in 2020, and Joan Mitchell’s Blueberry (1960), sold for $16.6 million in 2018.

Photo crédit : Sotheby's