This is not just a record price for Kahlo, but also for female art as a whole — the previous record was held by Georgia O'Keeffe with her painting "Jimson Weed / White Flower No. 1", which was sold for $44.4 million in 2014. 

The painting was created in 1940 — during a difficult period in Kahlo's life when she was tormented by chronic pain, and her inner instability was reflected in her art. In the canvas, Frida is depicted sleeping in a cloud-like bed, above her looms a skeleton, wrapped in dynamite and flowers — a symbol of her anxieties and reflections on death. 

At the auction, there was fierce competition between at least two collectors — the bidding lasted for about five minutes before the lot went for a record sum.

It is noteworthy that in 1980, this same canvas was sold for just $51,000, making the current amount a phenomenal leap: more than a thousand times higher than the original price. 

The painting belonged to a private collection outside of Mexico — among Kahlo's works, it is one of the few legally available at international auctions, as a significant part of her legacy is protected by Mexican legislation as "artistic heritage".

The name of the winning collector has not yet been disclosed. Some experts are already expressing concern that the painting, which was previously rarely exhibited (last time in the late 1990s), might once again disappear from public access.