Frida Kahlo tops Diego Rivera at Sotheby's Latin American Art Evening Sale
At Sotheby's Latin American Art Evening Sale in New York, Frida Kahlo's long-lost painting 'Niña con collar' sold for over $1.8 million, surpassing Diego Rivera's 'Paisaje cerca de Toledo' which fetched just over $1 million. The sale total reached nearly $17 million, with the top lot being Rufino Tamayo's 'Sandías y naranja' from Audrey Hepburn's collection at $2.3 million. Fernando Botero's monumental bronze also performed well, selling for $1.8245 million against an estimate of $800,000–1.2 million. The auction highlights a growing market trend that increasingly values Kahlo's work independently of her marriage to Rivera.
Key facts
- Sotheby's Latin American Art Evening Sale in New York totaled nearly $17 million.
- Top lot: Rufino Tamayo's 'Sandías y naranja' sold for $2.3 million, from Audrey Hepburn's collection.
- Frida Kahlo's 'Niña con collar' sold for over $1.8 million; the painting had been lost and known only from a black-and-white photo.
- Diego Rivera's 'Paisaje cerca de Toledo' sold for just over $1 million.
- Fernando Botero's monumental bronze sold for $1.8245 million, exceeding its estimate of $800,000–1.2 million.
- The auction reflects a market trend valuing Kahlo independently of Rivera.
- The sale coincided with a major exhibition of Mexican art from the Gelman collection at Palazzo Albergati in Bologna.
- Two bidders competed for the Tamayo painting.
Entities
Artists
- Frida Kahlo
- Diego Rivera
- Rufino Tamayo
- Fernando Botero
- Audrey Hepburn
Institutions
- Sotheby's
- Palazzo Albergati
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Bologna
- Italy