A Frida Kahlo painting, *El Sueño (La Cama)* (1954), sold at Sotheby’s New York for $54.7 million, setting a new auction record for the most expensive artwork by a female artist. The article, using data from the Artnet Price Database, lists the ten most expensive women artists at auction, including Lee Krasner ($11.6 million for *The Eye is the First Circle*), Jenny Saville ($12.4 million for *Propped*), Marlene Dumas ($13.6 million for *Miss January*), and Agnes Martin ($18.7 million for *Grey Stone II*).
This milestone underscores the accelerating market for women artists, with the previous record set just over a decade ago by Georgia O’Keeffe’s *Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1* at $44 million. The list highlights how auction prices for female artists have surged, reflecting broader shifts in collector interest and institutional recognition, though the top tier remains dominated by a small number of figures.