The painting, which had an estimated price of between 40 and 60 million dollars, had already been sold at Sotheby’s in 1980, but for a significantly lower price: 51,000 dollars (44.2 thousand euros at today’s exchange rate).
The third most expensive work made by a woman is also by Kahlo. This is his painting “Diego and I”, which was sold for 34.9 million dollars (30.25 million euros) in 2021.
This is followed by “Untitled”, by North American Joan Mitchell, also one of the most highly rated women in the art world.
Meanwhile, the living woman who achieved the highest sales price is South African Marlen Dumas, with “Miss January”, a work that sold for 13.6 million dollars (11.8 million euros) this year.
Kahlo painted “El sueño (La cama)” in 1940, at an “especially turbulent” time in her life due to her tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera and her deteriorating health, according to Sotheby’s.
Therefore, the Mexican woman evokes death in the work and represents herself sleeping on a colonial-style wooden bed, while a golden blanket with vines and leaves surrounds her.
On the bedposts rests a life-size skeleton wrapped in dynamite, holding a bouquet of flowers and leaning back on cushions.
In the background, a sky in shades of blue, lavender and gray, forming a composition that defies “spatial logic”, the bed becomes a physical and metaphysical support, details Sotheby’s.
One of the characteristics that differentiate this painting from other Western representations is that it illustrates death integrated into everyday life, identity and creative strength, according to the auction house.