Diego Rivera top draw at Latin art auctions

By Walker Simon

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A self-portrait of Mexico's Diego Rivera, a surrealist vision by Leonora Carrington and a work by Cuba's Mario Carreno are expected to be the top sellers at this week's Latin American art auctions.

Christie's expects total sales to top last November's auction, despite the sour economic climate, but Sotheby's is less optimistic that prices will rebound.

"The psychology is obviously much better ... there's more confidence," said Christie's Latin American art chief Virgilio Garza.

"Things have settled down. I'm not an economist but it just feels that way," he said. "People are not scared about our estimates."

Rivera's self-portrait, painted when he was 55, could fetch up to $1.8 million, according to Garza. The 1941 work comes with 14 letters from Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo. The correspondence bears imprints of her red lipstick kisses.

Carrington's 1944 "Chiki, Ton Pays," could sell for up to $1.6 million at Sotheby's. Reminiscent of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch it includes a smoking volcano, sinister figures and Mexican icons placed in a bizarre, grotesque landscape.

Sotheby's Latin American chief Carmen Melian said the work represents a synthesis of her life in war-time Europe and her new Mexican home. Born in England, Carrington fled France after her lover, German surrealist Max Ernst, was imprisoned there.

Another painting by Carrington, "The Giantess," shows a towering woman, her tiny hands clasping a black egg. It was painted around 1947 and could sell for up to $1.2 million.