(MENAFN) A self-portrait by the legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo fetched $54.7 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, establishing a new record for the highest amount ever paid for a work by a female artist, media reports stated on Thursday.

The 1940 piece, titled El sueño (La cama) or The Dream (The Bed), eclipsed the prior record of $44.4 million set in 2014 by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, according to CBS News.

“This record-breaking result shows just how far we have come, not only in our appreciation of Frida Kahlo’s genius, but in the recognition of women artists at the very highest level of the market,” the outlet cited Anna Di Stasi, Sotheby’s head of Latin American art, as saying.

The painting portrays Kahlo asleep on a floating bed, enveloped by vines, while a skeleton wrapped in dynamite hovers above—a striking image often interpreted as a reflection on mortality.

Previously, the artwork was sold for $51,000 in 1980, meaning the latest sale price represents an increase of more than 1,000 times.

It also surpasses Kahlo’s earlier personal record, set in 2021, when her 1949 painting Diego and I achieved $34.9 million.

The identity of the buyer remains undisclosed. As one of the rare Kahlo pieces held privately outside Mexico, the painting has already been requested for future exhibitions in New York, London, and Brussels.

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