A self-portrait by Frida Kahlo might finest the artist’s public sale report when it’s supplied by Sotheby’s in New York this November.
El Sueño (La Cama) (the dream, the mattress), painted in 1940, depicts a slumbering Kahlo wreathed in vines and floating within the sky, whereas a big skeleton, wired with explosives and clutching a bouquet, lies atop the mattress’s cover. The work references actual life: Kahlo did actually place a smaller papier-mâché skeleton atop her mattress, to symbolise the continuity between life and loss of life, a theme prevalent all through her work. Her husband, the artist Diego Rivera, would joke that it was her lover.
The oil on canvas, which measures 74cm by 98cm, has been not been assured—although this doesn’t rule out the opportunity of it being pre-sold nearer to the public sale. Ought to it promote close to its low estimate, it’s going to obtain the artist’s highest value at public sale. This title is presently claimed by Diego y yo (1949), depicting the artist and Rivera, which netted $34.9m (with charges) at Sotheby’s New York in 2021. Kahlo’s work are understood to have bought for rather more on the non-public market.
Furthermore, ought to the work surpass its low estimate, it might additionally break the report for the costliest work by any feminine artist, which at the moment stands at $44.4m for Georgia O Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No 1 (1932), made at Sotheby’s New York in 2014.
El Sueňo is considered one of quite a lot of gems from a serious non-public assortment to have been consigned to the November sale, Sotheby’s introduced right now. Different highlights from the gathering embody Inside with Sudden Pleasure (1951) by Dorothea Tanning, estimated between $2m and $3m, which is more likely to beat her $2.3m report. Two work by Magritte, La Représentation (1962, est $4m-$6m) and La Révélation du présent (1936, est $2m-$3m) and on by Dalí, Symbiose de la tête aux coquillages (1931, est $2m-$3m), are additionally supplied from the gathering.
Dorothea Tanning, Inside with Sudden Pleasure (1951)
Whereas Sotheby’s has declined to determine the gathering, The Artwork Newspaper understands it to be that of the Turkish-American report label govt Nesuhi Ertegun and his spouse Selma. Nesuhi died in 1989, and two years later his assortment was proven alongside that of his pal, Daniel Filipacchi, on the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York, for the exhibition Surrealism, two non-public eyes. Each work introduced by Sotheby’s right now was exhibited at this Guggenheim present as a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun assortment. Within the exhibition catalogue, the museum’s then director, Thomas Krens, described each collections as “maybe the best holdings of Surrealist artwork in non-public arms right now”.
Selma, who was 35 years Nesuhi’s junior, died in December 2024. She is survived by the 2 youngsters she shared along with her husband.
The couple had been associated to a different outstanding collector of Surrealism, the inside designer Mica Ertegun, who was married to Nesuhi’s brother, Ahmet. The Mica Ertegun assortment was bought at Christie’s New York final yr, led by Magritte’s L’empire des lumières (1954), which broke the artist’s report, making $121.m (with charges).
The consignment of the Nesuhi and Selma Ertegun assortment comes sizzling on the heels of a serious sale for the class at Sotheby’s in London this week, of artwork from the Hyde Park house of Pauline Karpidas. Anchored by a trove of 23 Surrealist works, the sale made a complete of £73m (with charges) in opposition to a £60m excessive estimate (all estimates calculated with out charges), changing into the costliest single-owner assortment ever bought in Europe. Main the sale was Magritte’s La Statue Volante which made £10.1m with charges.
Surrealist artwork seems to be cresting a wave. Based on a report launched this month by Sotheby’s and ArtTactic, public sale gross sales for this class have elevated from $726.1m to $800.7m and the style’s share of the worldwide artwork market has almost doubled from 9.3% to 16.8%.
