Frida Kahlo "Survivor." Image: Christie's

Frida Kahlo’s 1938 Survivor cruised past a $150,000 low estimate tonight at Christie’s, selling for $1.2 million during a Latin American painting sale.

The buyer was an unnamed private collector, bidding from the salesroom, according to Christie’s. A dealer who attended the sale told Art Market Views that the buyer was a female Mexican collector on a spree who snapped up 6 to 7 other pieces. Her other acquisitions included paintings by Alfonso Michel, Kazauya Sakai, Joaquin Torres-Garcia and Gunther Gerzso.

The 6 inch by 4 inch painting (which I previously blogged about here) was framed with a Oaxacan tin frame. The painting was first exhibited in 1938 at the Julien Levy Gallery in Kahlo’s first solo show.

UPDATE:

Final sale results are in..the sale totaled $16.8 million with a healthy 81 percent sold by lot. The second priciest lot was Jose Clemente Orozco’s 1929 The City, selling for $1.1 million, above the $200,000-$300,000 presale estimate. This achieved an auction record for the artist.

Jose Clemente Orozco "The City." Photo: Christie's