A Salvador Dali painting that was discovered at a house clearance sale in the United Kingdom and bought for 150 pounds ($200) has been valued at up to 30,000 pounds after it was authenticated as an original.
The art dealer who purchased the mixed media piece, who wished to remain anonymous, discovered it had previously been offered for sale at Sotheby’s in the 1990s, fully attributed to Dali.
The painting is to be offered for sale by Cambridgeshire auctioneers Cheffins on Oct. 23.
Gabrielle Downie, an associate at Cheffins, said: "The loss of an attribution is quite rare in the modern art world, making this a significant rediscovery for Dali scholars.
"To handle a genuine rediscovery of a work by someone who is easily one of the most famous artists in the world and the godfather of Surrealism is a real honor.
"It has been an exciting process researching and having this painting authenticated and it is a testament to the sellers’ significant art knowledge that he was able to spot this picture at a house clearance sale.
"While Dali’s work is often some of the most recognizable, this is an unusual piece which shows a different side to his practice when working in watercolour.”
The artwork, titled "Vecchio Sultano," was discovered in a Cambridge-based house clearance sale in 2023.
It has been certified as authentic by Dali expert Nicolas Descharnes and has a pre-sale estimate of 20,000 pounds to 30,000 pounds.
The image, created with watercolor paint and felt-tip pen, measures 38cm by 29cm.
It is an illustration of a scene from "The Arabian Nights," a series of 500 pieces which Dali intended to create of Middle Eastern folktales, which was commissioned by the wealthy Italian couple Giuseppe and Mara Albaretto.
Downie said: "The Albarettos who commissioned this work had initially asked Dali to illustrate a bible in 1963, but upon Dali’s insistence, he instead ended up illustrating scenes from "1,001 Nights" – a collection of Middle Eastern folktales.
"It seems Dali was fascinated with Moorish culture and believed himself to be from a Moorish line.
"It seems that this project was abandoned, with Dali only having completed 100 of the intended 500 works.
"Of these 100, half remained with the publishing house Rizzoli and were either damaged or lost; the other 50 stayed with the Albarettos and were later inherited by their daughter, Christina, who was also Dali’s goddaughter.
"It is the 50 that were retained by the family that were published in 2016 by the Folio Society.
"I think, given that Dali engineered the commission to suit his whims, that he very much enjoyed this project and the subject matter.
"It is most likely that the work in question came from the batch of 50, which were retained and later lost by the publishers.”
