Overview
- Sotheby's publicly unveiled Frida Kahlo's Le rêve (La chambre) at its reopened Breuer Building flagship in Manhattan ahead of the New York sale.
- The self-portrait depicts Kahlo asleep beneath a large skeleton, a detail the auction house links to a papier-mâché figure she kept above her bed.
- Anna Di Stasi of Sotheby's called the image deeply personal and said it blends Mexican folk motifs with European surrealism, while noting Kahlo's unease with the surrealist label.
- The house says the work has a strong chance to set a new auction high for a woman artist, with Kahlo's current record at $34.4 million and Georgia O'Keeffe's mark at $44.4 million.
- The preview also featured headline lots by René Magritte and Gustav Klimt and Maurizio Cattelan's gold toilet America, signaling a broad high-value sales push.