Frida Kahlo’s 'El sueño (La cama)' has become the most expensive artwork by a female artist ever sold at auction, fetching US$54.7 million at Sotheby’s in New York. The surrealist self-portrait, valued between $40 million and $60 million, surpassed the previous record held by American artist Georgia O’Keeffe.
The painting, sold by a private collector, had not been publicly displayed for nearly 30 years, and toured London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Paris, and New York ahead of the sale.
The work depicts Kahlo lying on a floating bed against a pale blue sky, her body entangled with curling green vines. Above her rests a skeleton wired with sticks of dynamite and holding a bouquet of dried flowers.
Frida Kahlo was born in the outer portion of Mexico City, but from that day on the whole world would grow to know her name. Want to get to know a little more about one of the most important artists ever to come out of the Latin American country? Click through this fascinating gallery and be surprised at these little-known facts about the feminist icon and painter.