"Frida Kahlo's "El sueño (La cama)" - in English, "The Dream (The Bed)" - is causing a stir among art historians as its estimated $40 million to $60 million price tag would make it the most expensive work by any female or Latin American artist when it goes to auction later this month. Sotheby's auction house will put the painting up for sale on Nov. 20 in New York after exhibiting it in London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Paris."
"Contrary to contemporary belief, the skull on the bed's canopy is not a Day of the Dead skeleton, but a Judas - a handmade cardboard figure. Traditionally lit with gunpowder during Easter, this effigy symbolizes purification and the triumph of good over evil, representing Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. In the painting, the skeleton is detailed with firecrackers, flowers on its ribs and a smiling grimace - a detail inspired by a cardboard skeleton Kahlo actually kept in the canopy of her own bed."
The painting El sueño (La cama) by Frida Kahlo carries an estimated $40 million to $60 million price and will be auctioned by Sotheby's on Nov. 20 in New York after exhibitions in London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Paris. The owner of the work remains unrevealed and the painting's overseas private-collection status makes it legally eligible for international sale despite Mexican protections. Mexican law designates Kahlo's work as artistic monuments within the country, preventing sale or destruction of works held domestically. The painting dates from 1940 after Kahlo's contact with surrealists in Paris. The canopy skull depicts a Judas effigy, not a Day of the Dead skeleton, detailed with firecrackers, flowers and a smiling grimace.
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