FILE - A painting by Frida Kahlo titled "El sueño (La cama)" or (The Dream (The Bed), is displayed at Sotheby's auction rooms in London, Sept. 19, 2025. The painting, estimated at 40-60 million US dollars, is part of a collection of surrealist masterpieces unveiled ahead of its upcoming sale in New York. KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH / AP
A self-portrait by legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sold for $54.66 million in New York on Thursday, setting a new record for the price of a painting by a woman, the auction house Sotheby's said.
The sale of Kahlo's 1940 artwork, titled "El sueno (la cama)" – which translates to "The dream (The bed)" – breaks the previous record in this category, set by American artist Georgia O'Keeffe, whose 1932 painting "Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1," sold for $44.4 million in 2014.
Kahlo's painting is "the most valuable work by a woman artist ever sold at auction," Sotheby's said in a post on X. The auction house said Kahlo's work was "painted in 1940 during a pivotal decade in her career, marked by her turbulent relationship with Diego Rivera."
Kahlo's self-portrait went on the auction block at Sotheby's with an estimated price ranging from $40 million to $60 million. The buyer's name was not disclosed.
