A rare self portrait by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is set to go on auction at Sotheby’s in New York on November 20, and it is already being called a strong contender to become the most expensive artwork ever sold by a female painter.
The piece, titled The Room, is a 1940 self portrait that shows Kahlo asleep in a bed with a large skeleton hanging above her. The artwork was unveiled this week in New York and is valued between 40 and 60 million dollars, according to Le Figaro.
The painting was presented inside Sotheby’s newly redesigned flagship space in Manhattan, housed in the historic modernist Breuer building. The venue, which previously operated as a museum, will officially reopen to the public this weekend.
This self portrait is considered one of Kahlo’s most personal works, blending traditional Mexican folk symbolism with elements of European surrealism. Despite this influence, Kahlo famously rejected being labeled a surrealist, insisting that her paintings reflected her own reality rather than dreams or fantasies.
The skeleton depicted above the bed is not a symbolic invention. According to Sotheby’s, Kahlo actually kept a similar paper skeleton above her real bed at home.
Kahlo’s previous auction record was set by her 1949 self portrait Diego and I, which sold for 34.4 million dollars in New York.
The most expensive artwork ever sold by a female artist remains a 1932 painting by American painter Georgia O’Keeffe, which sold for 44.4 million dollars in 2014. Kahlo’s The Room now has the potential to surpass that historic figure.
