UPDATE: Frida Kahlo’s iconic painting, “El sueño (La cama),” is generating intense excitement as it heads to auction with a staggering estimated price of $40 million to $60 million. Scheduled for November 20, 2023, at Sotheby’s in New York, this sale could set a record for the highest price ever paid for a work by a female or Latin American artist.
Art historians are weighing in on the significance of this auction, as it could reshape the art market landscape. “This is a moment of a lot of speculation,” stated Helena Chávez Mac Gregor, a prominent Mexican art historian from UNAM’s Institute of Aesthetic Research. The hype surrounding the sale follows a global exhibition of the painting in cities including London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and Paris.
Currently, Kahlo’s work is protected in Mexico by a declaration of artistic monument, prohibiting sales within the country. However, the painting, owned by an undisclosed private collector, is eligible for international sale, according to legal stipulations.
“This is a unique situation,” said Mexican curator Cuauhtémoc Medina, highlighting the peculiarities of how Mexican artistic heritage is treated. “El sueño (La cama)” was created in 1940, after Kahlo’s influential trip to Paris, where she engaged with the surrealist movement. The painting features a skull on the canopy that is not a Day of the Dead figure but a handmade cardboard Judas, symbolizing purification and triumph over evil.
Kahlo’s life was marked by struggle and illness, which adds depth to her work. “She had a very complex life because of all the illnesses and physical challenges with which she lived,” noted Chávez Mac Gregor. Despite her connections to surrealism, Kahlo distanced herself from the movement, believing it was too bourgeois for her revolutionary ideals.
The auction is poised to attract attention not just for its potential record-breaking sale but also for its implications on how art is valued in today’s economy. Many paintings purchased for exorbitant sums often disappear from public view, a fate that could await “El sueño (La cama)” after the auction.
Kahlo’s previous record sale occurred in 2021 when her painting “Diego y yo” sold for $34.9 million. It was acquired by Argentine businessman Eduardo Costantini and is now exhibited at the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires. However, many worry that high-priced acquisitions reduce art to mere economic commodities, relegating masterpieces to tax-free zones or storage.
“Crazy-priced purchases have reduced art to a mere economic value,” lamented Medina. He warned that the consequences might lead to significant artworks being lost to time, much like paintings that end up in limbo, waiting for decades in storage.
The current record for 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. Yet, the auction market still reflects a significant disparity, as no female artist has surpassed the maximum sale price of male artists. The all-time record remains Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” which sold for a jaw-dropping $450.3 million in 2017.
As the auction date approaches, art enthusiasts, collectors, and historians are closely monitoring developments. The auction of “El sueño (La cama)” not only represents a pivotal moment for Frida Kahlo but could also redefine the market’s approach to female and Latin American artists. Keep an eye on this event as it unfolds—this could be the art world’s defining moment.
