Record auction for a work by Frida Kahlo: the emblematic self-portrait "Diego y yo" sold at auction for 35 million dollars
34,9 dollars: this is the staggering figure for which the famous painting by Frida Kahlo by Title Diego and me. This is a real record for a work created by a Latin American artist. The previous record, in fact, belonged to the husband of the Mexican painter (the painting in question was "Los Rivales", sold for 9,76 million dollars in 2018).
The Argentine entrepreneur Eduardo Constantini, founder of the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires, bought the painting by Frida Kahlo, as confirmed by the well-known auction house Sotheby's. The work, however, will not be exhibited in the art gallery but will be kept among those of his private collection, where there are also other masterpieces by Latin American artists, including "Omi Obini" by the Cuban painter Wifredo Lam.
The enigmatic painting “Diego y yo” depicts Frida staring at the viewer, her face streaked with tears. In the center of her forehead is represented her husband and painter Diego Rivera, with a third eye (which symbolizes her role, sometimes excessively pervasive, in the life and mind of the painter).
The Revelations of Frida Kahlo’s Self Portraiture
Frida Kahlo's 'Diego y yo' is one of the artist's finest self portraits, and her last from the 1940s. Discover how the work offers an intimate glimpse into Kahlo’s world and reminds us why she stands as an icon of Modern art. Visit the work now on view in our York Avenue galleries ahead of our Modern Evening Auction on 16 November in NYC, presented in partnership with Samsung.
Posted by Sotheby's on Wednesday, November 10, 2021
The dimensions of the work, created in 1949 (a few years before Frida Kahlo's death), are quite small: 30 cm x 22,4 cm. And the price at which the self-portrait was beaten is about four times the previous record set at an auction by a painting by the same painter (the masterpiece “Two Nudes in the Woods”, sold for 8 million dollars in 2016).
With its 34,9 million dollars, Frida's work is positioned in second place among the most expensive ever sold at auction, made by a female artist. At the moment to hold the absolute record is the painting “Jimson weed / White flower no. 1 ”by the famous American painter Georgia O'Keeffe.
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Fonte: Sotheby’s
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- The exhibition “Frida Kahlo. The chaos inside ”, dedicated to the timeless life and art of the iconic painter Mexican
- Frida Kahlo: history, works and famous phrases of the great Mexican painter, symbol of resilience
