Sotheby’s in New York describes the painting as one of the “most poignant” and “impactful” of Kahlo’s artistic output.
The auction house anticipates that “The Dream (The Bed),” painted in 1940, will fetch between 40 and 60 million dollars (between 34.6 and 42 million euros, at current exchange rates).
Currently, American artist Georgia O’Keeffe and her work “Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1” hold the record for the most expensive painting ever made by a woman, sold for 44 million dollars (38.1 million euros).
Moreover, if the painting sells for more than 34.9 million dollars (30 million euros), it will become the most expensive piece by the Mexican artist.
Kahlo painted “The Dream (The Bed)” during a particularly tumultuous period of her life, as her health deteriorated that year due to polio and complications from a bus accident suffered in 1925.
Consequently, the Mexican artist evokes death in the painting, portraying herself asleep in a wooden bed, wrapped in a golden blanket embroidered with vines and leaves.
Above the bed is a life-sized skeleton wrapped in dynamite, holding a bouquet of flowers and resting on pillows.
