Recently a self-portrait by Frida Kahlo sold for $34.9 million at auction, setting a benchmark as the most expensive artwork by a Latin American artist.
The oil painting, “Diego and I,” was created in 1949 – five years before her death – and features Kahlo with her artist husband, Diego Rivera, situated just above her eyes in the self-portrait. It’s said to offer a view into her turbulent marriage with the muralist, as well as highlighting her physical suffering through her less-polished painting style.
Interestingly enough, Kahlo’s “Diego and I” surpassed Rivera’s record for a work by a Latin American artist, having sold at auction for $9.76 million in 2018.
Frida Kahlo was born in 1907 in Mexico City, eventually becoming the embodiment of Mexican culture, though she wasn’t fully Mexican; her father was born in Germany. Her work was central in the Neomexicanismo Art Movement in Mexico in the 1970s. Kahlo is best known for her self-portraits, having painted 55 of them. “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.”
While she enjoyed success during her lifetime, she was mainly known for being Diego Rivera’s wife. However, her popularity and success as an artist exploded after her death and is widely known today.