Diego and I, Frida Kahlo's most sought-after self-portrait, at the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano in Buenos Aires

Visitors to Buenos Aires will have the opportunity to see Diego and I, the most sought-after self-portrait by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, at the Museo Latinoamericano (MALBA), from 26 August for a year.

The painting, painted in 1949 by the tormented Kahlo, was acquired last November by Argentinean Eduardo Costantini, founder of MALBA, for 34.9 million dollars at Sotheby's in New York. The collector and new owner of the work declared that this is the first time it will be shown to the public since 1998.

The piece arrived in Buenos Aires a few days ago to become the main attraction of the exhibition Tercer Ojo, in which Costantini will show his private collection, which also includes paintings by the Cuban Wifredo Lam, the Mexicans Miguel Covarrubias and Rosa Rolanda, and the Brazilian Vicente do Rego Monteiro.

The work is an oil on wood measuring just 30 by 22.4 centimetres, one of Kahlo's most iconic works and one of the last she was able to produce before her death in 1954 at the age of 47. 

The painting shows Frida Kahlo herself in tears, and on her forehead, above her very bushy and characteristic eyebrows, is the face of her husband, the Mexican painter and muralist Diego Rivera, who in turn has an eye on his forehead. "An exceptional work by a highly acclaimed artist with a body of work that, although not small, is not very numerous either", according to the exhibition curator, María Amalia García.

"For me, Frida represents a unique artist. She has a dramatic biography that she tells without any modesty, in a spontaneous, open way. I think that is precisely what people love about her," Costantini said on a tour of the exhibition with the national and foreign press. 

"She handled the technique of portraiture like the best artists in history and used that skill to tell her dramas," added the new owner of the work about an artist who has become a recognised feminist icon.

Diego and I is not the only Kahlo work in the exhibition. There will also be Self-Portrait with monkey and parrot, painted in 1942 and belonging to MALBA's permanent collection. Also on display is a documentary collection, with photographs and other objects, made by Raquel Tibol, the first biographer of the Mexican artist.

"The objective is to disseminate Latin American art", summarised Costantini, who created the MALBA in 2001 and in which 700 works by the most important creators of the continent from the 20th century onwards are already on display.