A self-portrait โby Mexicanโข artist Frida Kahlo sold for โฌ47.3 โmillion โ(approximately $50.3 million) at auction in New York, โคestablishing a new record for a work by โคa female artist. The 1940 painting, “The Dream (the Bed),” depicts Kahlo asleep in a colonial-style bed suspendedโ in clouds, adorned withโ symbolic imageryโค including vines, leaves, โขandโ aโฃ skeleton.
Theโค record-breakingโ sale underscores Kahlo’s โenduring legacy and the escalatingโฃ value of works by historically underrepresented โartists. While Kahlo’sโค art frequently commands high prices, this auction marks โขa significant milestone, reflectingโ a growing recognition of herโฃ contributionโค to art history and aโฃ shift in the art market. The painting’s provenance-having remained largely โout of public โคview since the late 1990s and held in private โขhands outside of Mexico-added to โits โขallure and drove intense bidding.
“The โDream (the Bed)” portrays Kahlo lying under a golden blanket, a scene inspiredโ byโ the artist’s lifelong โขstruggles with โphysical pain and โคemotional turmoil. kahlo’s life was marked by adversity, including contractingโ polio as a childโ and suffering severe injuries in a bus accident at age eighteen, which necessitated numerous surgeriesโ andโค prolonged periods of bed rest. It was during these periods of convalescence that she began to paint, transforming personal โsuffering into powerfulโ and evocative self-portraits.
Kahlo’s self-portraits are characterized โby โขtheir vibrant colors and her distinctive โคunibrow,โฃ aโข purposeful rejection of conventional beauty standards. Theโข auctioned work is one of the โขfew Kahlo paintingsโ remaining โin privateโค collections outside of Mexico. The identity of both โthe seller and the anonymous buyer remain undisclosed,raising concerns among art historiansโ that the painting may once again become inaccessible toโข the public.
The โฃsale took place today,โฃ November โข21, โค2025, according toโข NOS News.