This Frida Kahlo painting is going to auction at Sotheby's. It could fetch up to $60 million

"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."

El sueo (La cama) is estimated at $40 million to $60 million and will be auctioned on Nov. 20 at Sotheby's in New York after exhibitions in London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Paris. The painting dates to 1940 following Kahlo's trip to Paris and reflects contact with the surrealists. The skull on the bed's canopy is a Judas effigy, traditionally lit with gunpowder at Easter to symbolize purification and the triumph of good over evil. The effigy features firecrackers, flowers on its ribs and a smiling grimace, inspired by a cardboard skeleton Kahlo kept in her canopy. Mexican law declares some modern works as artistic monuments, preventing sale or destruction within the country, while privately held works abroad remain eligible for international sale. The painting's owner is unrevealed.

Read at Fast Company