Raíces

This 1943 Frieda Kahlo self-portrait in oil (did she ever do anything BUT self-portraits?) , Raíces set a new record for Mexican art prices at a Sotheby's auction last night: 5.6 million dollars.

I am not a Kalo-phile. My preference is for artists whose work stands independently from their lives. What do you need to know about the O's ( O'Higgins, O'Gorman, Orozco) to enjoy their art. What can we believe -- besides his art -- about serial liar, Diego Rivera. And does it even matter?

Kahlo was self-indulgent and self-referential: if you don't buy into her biography (or, rather -- her version of her psychobiography) the art is relatively meaningless. I always thought the art should be independent of the artist, and should stand alone without the myth -- which may be what makes this portrait so unusual -- Kahlo was healthy and happy at the time.