Frida Kahlo's "El sueño (La cama)"—in English, "The dream (The bed)"—is causing a stir among art historians, as its estimated $40 million to $60 million price tag would make it the most expensive work by any female or Latin American artist when it heads to the auction block later this month. Sotheby's will put the painting up for sale on Nov. 20 in New York after exhibiting it in London, the UAE, Hong Kong, and Paris, reports the AP. "This is a moment of a lot of speculation," said Mexican art historian Helena Chavez Mac Gregor, a researcher at UNAM's Institute of Aesthetic Research and author of El Liston y la Bomba: El Arte de Frida Kahlo (The Ribbon and the Bomb: The Art of Frida Kahlo).
In Mexico, Kahlo's work is protected by a declaration of artistic monument, meaning pieces within the country can't be sold or destroyed. However, works from private collections abroad—like the painting in question, whose owner remains unrevealed—are legally eligible for international sale. "The system of declaring Mexican modern artistic heritage is very anomalous," said Mexican curator Cuauhtemoc Medina. "El sueño (La cama)" was created in 1940 following Kahlo's trip to Paris, where she came into contact with the surrealists.
Contrary to contemporary belief, the skull on the bed's canopy isn't a "Day of the Dead" skeleton, but a Judas—a handmade cardboard figure. Traditionally lit with gunpowder during Easter, this effigy symbolizes purification and the triumph of good over evil, representing Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. In the painting, the skeleton is detailed with firecrackers, flowers on its ribs, and a smiling grimace—a detail inspired by a cardboard skeleton Kahlo actually kept in the canopy of her own bed. Kahlo "spent a lot of time in bed waiting for death," said Chavez Mac Gregor. "She had a very complex life because of all the illnesses and physical challenges with which she lived."
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"El sueño (La cama)" was last exhibited in the 1990s, and after the auction, it could disappear from public view once again, a fate shared by many paintings acquired for large sums at auction. The current sale record for a work by a female artist is held by Georgia O'Keeffe's "Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1," which fetched $44.4 million at Sotheby's in 2014. However, the auction market still reflects a profound disparity, as no female artist has yet exceeded the maximum sale price of a male artist. The current benchmark is "Salvator Mundi," attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which was auctioned by Christie's for $450.3 million in 2017. More here.
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