Frida Kahlo self-portrait sells for $54.7 million, setting new record for female artists

A self-portrait by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has become the most valuable work by a female artist sold at auction after selling for $54.7 million.

“El sueño (La cama)” – “The Dream (The Bed)” – grabbed the title at Sotheby’s in New York, after it surpassed the existing record held by the late American artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Her “Jimson Weed/White Flower No.1,” which had previously hung in the White House, sold for $44.4 million in 2014.

Kahlo’s surrealist self portrait, which was sold by a private collector, had been valued at between $40 million and $60 million. Another of the Mexican artist’s self portraits “Diego y yo” (Diego and I) previously held the title for second most expensive artwork sold by a female artist after also being auctioned by Sotheby’s, New York, in 2021.

When sold, that painting became the most expensive piece of Latin American art ever. It’s now been overtaken by Kahlo’s more recent sale, and drops down to second place – and third for the most valuable artwork by a woman.

Prior to the auction, the painting, which had not been seen publicly for almost three decades, was shown in London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Paris and New York.