A rather touching self-portrait of the renowned and iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo depicting her personal life, is up for sale at Sotheby’s auction in November and the presale estimate for this painting is in excess of $30 million. The painting is titled “Diego y yo” or “Diego and I” and this pre-sale price could make it the most valuable Latin American art to go for auction ever.
The self-portrait made in 1949, according to a report by The Guardian is a sorrowful depiction. The painting shows Kahlo’s cheating husband Diego Rivera in the centre of her forehead. The irony of the situation is that at present the current record of the most valuable Latin American art sold in an auction is held by “The Rivals” by Diego Rivera, Kahlo’s husband.
In a report by artnet.com, the piece was completed in 1949, five years before Kahlo’s death in 1954. It is considered to be her final self-portrait “bust.” It portrays the Mexican artist’s tear-soaked visage with an image of her husband, Diego Rivera, on her forehead — perhaps highlighting the place he occupied in her life.
Anna di Stasi, Sotheby’s Director of Latin American art was quoted in the report as stating that Kahlo’s piece was an iconic modern work and that it embodied “the painstakingly detailed rendering, complex iconography, and deeply personal narratives that are hallmarks of her mature painting".
Going into the details and the context of the painting in question, the Guardian report said that it was a creation that took place at a low point in the tumultuous relationship shared between Kahlo and Rivera. This was when Rivera was having an affair with Kahlo’s friend and actor María Félix, the scandal which became the centre of public’s attention and interest and is the subject of the said painting which is going up for sale.
Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo (Pic. Courtesy wikimedia commons)
When sold at the pre-sale price, according to Sotheby it will be a watershed moment since it was sold in 1990 last at Sotheby’s for $1.4 million. And at that time, it made Kahlo the first Latin American artist to cross the milestone auction value of $1 million.
According to an article in the ARTnews at present the highest price that an artwork of Kahlo is fetching is $8 million and this is nearly is over three times lesser than what ‘Diego y yo’ is expected to fetch.
Before the painting goes up for auction, it will be on view at Sotheby’s branches in Hong Kong from October 7 to 11 and at London from October 22 to 25, before it comes back to New York.
