A Frida Kahlo painting that disappeared from public view in the 1990s is tipped to sell for a record price at auction before potentially vanishing again.

It’s estimated El sueño (La cama) — translating to The Dream (The Bed) — will fetch $US40 million-$US60 million ($61 million-$91 million).

That would make it the most expensive work by any female or Latin American artist when Sotheby’s auctions it on November 20 in New York.

El sueño (La cama) was last exhibited in the 1990s, and after the auction, it could disappear from public view once again.

Leading up to the auction it was exhibited in London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Paris.

“This is a moment of a lot of speculation,” said Mexican art historian Helena Chávez Mac Gregor.

El sueño (La cama) was created in 1940 following Kahlo’s trip to Paris, where she came into contact with the surrealists.

Contrary to contemporary belief, the skull on the bed’s canopy is not a Day of the Dead skeleton, but a Judas — a handmade cardboard figure.

In the painting, the skeleton is detailed with firecrackers, flowers on its ribs and a smiling grimace — a detail inspired by a cardboard skeleton Kahlo actually kept in the canopy of her bed.

Kahlo “spent a lot of time in bed waiting for death”, said Chávez Mac Gregor. “She had a very complex life because of all the illnesses and physical challenges with which she lived.”

The current sale record for a work by a female artist is held by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No.1, which sold for $US44.4 million ($68.02 million) in 2014.

However, the auction market still reflects a profound disparity as no female artist has yet exceeded the maximum sale price of a male artist.

In Mexico, Kahlo’s work is protected by a declaration of artistic monument, meaning pieces within the country cannot be sold or destroyed.

However, works from private collections abroad — like the painting in question, whose owner remains unrevealed — are legally eligible for international sale.

-with AAP