NEW YORK: A self-portrait by celebrated Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sold for $54.66 million in New York on Thursday, setting a record for the price of a painting by a woman, the auction house Sotheby’s said.

The sale of Kahlo’s 1940 artwork, titled “El sueno (La cama)” — which translates to “The dream (The bed)” — broke the previous record set by American artist Georgia O’Keeffe, whose 1932 painting “Jimson Weed/White Flower No 1” sold for $44.4 million in 2014.

Kahlo’s painting is “the most valuable work by a woman artist ever sold at auction,” Sotheby’s said in a post on social media platform X.

The artwork depicts Kahlo sleeping in a bed that appears to float through the sky, beneath a skeleton with its legs wrapped in sticks of dynamite.

The work was painted during a pivotal decade in Kahlo’s career, marked by her turbulent relationship with Mexican painter Diego Rivera, the auction house said on X.

The painting went on the auction block with an estimated price range of $40 million to $60 million.

The buyer’s name was not disclosed.

The work is a “very personal” painting, in which Kahlo “merges folkloric motifs from Mexican culture with European surrealism,” Anna Di Stasi, the head of Latin American art at Sotheby’s, told AFP.

The Mexican artist, who died in 1954 at the age of 47, “did not completely agree” with her work being associated with the surrealist movement, Di Stasi said.

However, “given this magnificent iconography, it seems entirely appropriate to include it,” she said.

Kahlo struggled with fragile health throughout her life due to childhood illness, polio and a serious bus accident in 1925, and pain and death were central to her work.

The skeleton depicted in the painting echoed the papier-mache version that hung above Kahlo’s bed, according to Sotheby’s.

Women under-represented

None of the 162 pieces of art that had previously sold for more than $50 million were by women, according to an AFP tally.

Less than 1% of the 468 works sold for more than $30 million are by women artists.

The record-setting sale of Kahlo’s self-portrait came two nights after Sotheby’s made another record sale, with a painting by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt fetching $236.4 million — the second-most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

Klimt’s “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” which he painted between 1914 and 1916, depicts the daughter of his main patron standing in front of a blue tapestry.

The most expensive painting ever sold at auction remains the “Salvator Mundi,” (Savior of the World), a Renaissance work attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which was bought for $450 million in 2017.

Female artists whose works have fetched the highest sale prices are primarily prominent 20th-century figures.

The third-highest sale price, after O’Keeffe’s White Flower No 1,” was for a huge spider sculpture by French visual artist Louise Bourgeois, which sold for $32.5 million in 2023.

Kahlo’s self-portrait “Diego y yo” (“Diego and I”, 1949) fetched $34.9 million in 2021 and “Portrait of Marjorie Ferry” (1932) by the Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka was sold for $21.2 million in 2020.

US President Donald Trump hosted New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House on Friday for a meeting that proceeded smoothly despite their sharply contrasting political views.

One of Trump’s notable wins was shifting the narrative about Mamdani, whom he had previously criticized as a “100% Communist Lunatic.” “We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” Trump said, smiling as he addressed Mamdani respectfully as “Mr. Mayor” and predicted success for his tenure.

Their televised Oval Office meeting drew significant attention, presenting Trump in a more favorable light after weeks of negative coverage linked to files from the late Jeffrey Epstein. With his poll numbers declining, the meeting offered a timely distraction and a chance to reset the political conversation.

Focus on Affordability

Trump and Mamdani focused their discussion on the cost of living and affordability, central issues in Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. Trump spoke at length about reducing housing and grocery costs, while Mamdani emphasized that his campaign reached out to Trump supporters to address their concerns.

“Some of his ideas are the same ideas I have,” Trump noted, highlighting areas of common ground, particularly on housing expansion in New York. By emphasizing economic concerns, both leaders largely avoided contentious issues such as immigration policy and the war in Gaza.

The White House has indicated that cost-of-living concerns will be a top priority for Trump ahead of next year’s midterm elections, which will determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress.

Mamdani Holds His Ground

Mamdani, a Democrat, appeared confident and composed while addressing questions in the Oval Office. He spoke respectfully of Trump but did not shy away from critical topics, including his stance on immigration policies and their impact on New York.

During a discussion about why Mamdani flew to Washington instead of taking a train, Trump intervened in support of the mayor-elect, saying, “I’ll stick up for you. Flying was the fastest way to get to DC from New York.”

Body language

Warmth, familiarity, even fraternity.

In what could have been a contentious meeting between political polar opposites, Trump and Mamdani exuded friendliness in their first get-together since the democratic socialist became New York City’s mayor-elect after beating establishment party figures in the Democratic primary, notably former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Unlike aggressive meetings Trump has had with some foreign leaders in the same space, the president appeared calm, supportive and even enthusiastic about Mamdani as the two men appeared before cameras.

They displayed amiable body language. Trump shook Mamdani’s hand more than once, patting it with his other in apparent affection, and touched or playfully punched his arm at other times, almost paternally, while they took questions together from the press.

Trump, appearing like an elder statesman, sat at his desk, while Mamdani, the younger upstart, stood next to him, his hands clasped. Trump wore a wide red power tie, Mamdani wore a narrower blue one, both colors corresponding to their respective political party affiliations.

Trump likes winners

Some expected fireworks between the volatile conservative president and the mayor-elect who reaffirmed his embrace of the “democratic socialist” label. Yet the aftermath of the meeting was surprisingly cordial.

Trump suggested that Mamdani might “change his mind” about some policies. “I think he’s going to surprise some conservative people,” the president said.

Trump, who praised Mamdani’s performance during the mayoral primaries and general election, has always liked winners.

Bringing Mamdani to the White House was not considerably different than inviting a championship sports team — a presidential tradition that Trump relishes.

And as a fellow New Yorker, Trump may have a level of respect for someone who successfully navigated the city’s stormy politics. “Being the mayor of New York City is a big deal,” Trump said.

At times Trump acted as if he were meeting with a fellow head of state. He remarked about the media attention the two had drawn, saying it exceeded the scrutiny attracted by some leaders of other countries.

Trump grew up in Queens, where Mamdani resides now, making him the city’s first mayor from that borough. It is possible both men saw themselves as somewhat kindred spirits.

“I love New York City,” the president said.

• Draft COP30 deal omits fossil fuel transition plans.
• Arab Group says energy industries off limits, sources say.
• Developing nations demand stronger deal on funding.

BELEM: The outcome of Brazil’s COP30 climate summit was left hanging in the balance, with the European Union refusing to accept a draft deal it said would fail to advance global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change.

The two-week conference being held in the Amazon city of Belem had been scheduled to end Friday evening, but blew past that deadline as negotiations continued late into the night.

Brazil has cast the summit as a make-or-break moment for global climate cooperation, urging nations to bridge divides on issues including the future of fossil fuels and to send a message that concerted global action is the best way forward.

“This cannot be an agenda that divides us,” COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago told delegates in a public plenary session before releasing them for further negotiations.

“We must reach an agreement between us.”

Some emerging economies hit back at the EU’s position, demanding the bloc commit more finance to help poorer nations cope with climate change.

“We can’t just work with one pathway. If there is a pathway for fossil fuel, there has to be a pathway for climate finance as well,” said a negotiator for a developing country, who was granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.

The rifts over fossil fuels, cutting CO2 emissions faster and finance highlighted the difficulty of reaching a consensus at the annual conference, a perennial test of global resolve to avert the worst impacts of global warming.

A draft text for a deal, released by Brazil before dawn on Friday, contained no reference to fossil fuels, dropping a range of options on the subject that had been included in an earlier version.

Scores of countries, including major oil and gas producer nations, had opposed the options.

Earlier in the summit, some 80 governments had demanded COP30 deliver a plan to shift away from fossil fuels. But by Friday night, many of those nations had indicated in closed-door talks they would accept the deal without it, negotiators said.

Burning fossil fuels emits greenhouse gases that are by far the largest contributors to global warming.

Standoff over fossil fuels

The 27-member EU said the text was too weak.

“Under no circumstances are we going to accept this,” EU Commissioner for Climate Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement on Friday.

The EU indicated it could “move beyond its comfort zone” on finance for developing nations – but only if the text’s sections on action to cut planet-warming emissions were strengthened.

By Friday night, some European negotiators said the bloc was considering the option of walking away from the talks, rather than accepting the current deal.

A Brazilian negotiator told Reuters the fossil fuel language was unlikely to be reintroduced, and that the summit presidency was pressing for only small adjustments to the existing draft.

Other options being discussed by negotiators included a separate side deal on fossil fuels, which countries could voluntarily sign up to but which would not be agreed by consensus as COP deals need to be, negotiators said.

Three sources said the Arab Group negotiating bloc, whose 22 members include Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, told a closed-door meeting of negotiators that its energy industries were off limits in discussions.

Saudi Arabia delivered a statement from the Arab Group to negotiators, warning that targeting its industries would collapse the negotiations, the sources said.

Saudi Arabia did not reply to a request for comment addressed to the Saudi government communications office.

Multilateralism under pressure

The draft deal also called for global efforts to triple the financing available to help nations adapt to climate change by 2030, from 2025 levels.

However, it did not specify whether this money would be provided directly by wealthy nations, or other sources including development banks or the private sector.

A deal text would need approval by consensus among the nearly 200 countries present in order to be adopted.

Correa do Lago said a show of multilateral unity was an important signal to send given this year’s US absence. President Donald Trump has called global warming a hoax.

“The world is watching,” Correa do Lago said.