Frida Kahlo's self-portrait 'Diego y yo' is predicted to sell for more than $30 million when it goes under the hammer in November. AFP
Frida Kahlo's self-portrait 'Diego y yo' is predicted to sell for more than $30 million when it goes under the hammer in November. AFP
Frida Kahlo's self-portrait 'Diego y yo' is predicted to sell for more than $30 million when it goes under the hammer in November. AFP
Frida Kahlo's self-portrait 'Diego y yo' is predicted to sell for more than $30 million when it goes under the hammer in November. AFP

Frida Kahlo self-portrait expected to smash records at auction with $30 million sale


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A Frida Kahlo self-portrait featuring her husband, artist Diego Rivera, is tipped to sell for more than $30 million at auction in New York, said Sotheby's.

Diego y yo (Diego and I), painted in 1949, "is poised to shatter" Kahlo's current auction record of $8m set in 2016, the auction house said on Wednesday.

The artwork, which will be the star lot of the November sale at Sotheby's, is also expected to smash the record for a painting by a Latin-American artist.

Los Rivales, a 1932 work by Rivera, is currently the most valuable – Christie's sold it for $9.8m in May 2018.

The artwork features the image of Frida Kahlo's husband, Diego Rivera, on her forehead. AP
The artwork features the image of Frida Kahlo's husband, Diego Rivera, on her forehead. AP

"Frida Kahlo's emotionally bare and complex portrait Diego y yo is a defining work," said Brooke Lampley, Sotheby's chairman and worldwide head of sales for global fine art.

"To offer this portrait in our Modern Evening Sale in November heralds the recent expansion of the Modern category to include greater representation of underrepresented artists, notably women artists, and rethink how they have historically been valued at auction."

Diego y yo is emblematic of Kahlo's self-portraits, known for their intense and enigmatic gaze that made the Mexican painter famous around the world.

In the painting, Rivera's face appears on Kahlo's forehead, above her distinctive eyebrows and dark eyes, from which a few teardrops fall.

The depiction of Rivera, who at the time was close to Mexican actress Maria Felix, as a third eye symbolises the extent to which he tormented her thoughts, art experts say.

Anna di Stasi, Sotheby’s director of Latin-American art, said the work epitomised “the painstakingly detailed rendering, complex iconography and deeply personal narratives that are hallmarks of her mature painting".

Kahlo, who died aged 47 in 1954, and Rivera married each other twice.

Diego y yo was last sold at Sotheby's for $1.4m in 1990. The portrait will be on display in Hong Kong from Thursday October 7 to Monday, October to 11, and in London from Friday October 22 to Monday October to 25, before being taken to New York for sale.

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20myZoi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Syed%20Ali%2C%20Christian%20Buchholz%2C%20Shanawaz%20Rouf%2C%20Arsalan%20Siddiqui%2C%20Nabid%20Hassan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2037%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Initial%20undisclosed%20funding%20from%20SC%20Ventures%3B%20second%20round%20of%20funding%20totalling%20%2414%20million%20from%20a%20consortium%20of%20SBI%2C%20a%20Japanese%20VC%20firm%2C%20and%20SC%20Venture%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Seek professional advice from a legal expert

You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor

You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline

In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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What is the definition of an SME?

SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.

A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors. 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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What sanctions would be reimposed?

Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:

  • An arms embargo
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Updated: September 23, 2021, 6:37 AM`