On May 16th, the Latin American Art Auction of the renowned Morton’s Auction House was held in Mexico City. The event had 201 lots with several of the most recognized artists from Mexico and Latin America such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco, María Izquierdo, Saturnino Herrán, Frida Kahlo, José María Velazco and Dr. Atl.

However, Leonora Carrington was the highest-priced artist at the event. After almost 4 minutes of bidding between 3 people (2 present at the event and one by telephone), her work “Dándole de comer a una mesa” was sold for just over $16 million pesos (taxes and commissions included). With this sale, Carrington surpasses her own record of 15 million pesos established in 2018 with the same auction house. “Dándole de comer a una mesa” is a 57 x 70 cm oil painting dated 1959 that illustrates a mystical scene with fantastic characters.

Rivera's cubist art is left behind

One of the surprises of the night was that the work “Paysage de Fontenay” by the famous painter Diego Rivera failed to sell. Belonging to his cubist period, this painting had an initial price of 16 million pesos, and it is estimated that its real value fluctuates between 18 and 21 million pesos. However, it wasn't all bad news for him. His small work “Paisaje de Álamos Sonora”, measuring only 9.8 x 13.5 cm, was sold for $75,000 pesos.

Sources: El Universal, Informer, El Sol de México