A painting that surfaced during a house clearance in Cambridge, UK, has been identified as the work of Spanish painter Salvador Dalí. The work was bought for 150 pounds (almost 130 euros) but turns out to be worth 20,000 to 30,000 pounds.
It is not a masterpiece at first glance, writes The Guardian about the remarkable find. So when the work surfaced during a house clearance and was subsequently auctioned, there were only two interested parties. The painting was sold for 150 pounds.
But after thorough investigation, the canvas appears to be an original work by Dalí. An appraiser estimated the value of the painting at 20,000 to 30,000 pounds.
Vecchio Sultano was made in 1966, shows an “old sultan” and dates from a period in which Dalí often painted folk tales from the Middle East. This series of works was called Arabian Nights. The surrealist artist was supposed to paint five hundred works for this series, but after a hundred works Dalí stopped the project.
Of the hundred works, fifty were inherited by his descendants, but the rest roamed around and got lost, including Vecchio Sultano. The canvas surfaced during the auction of a house clearance, where the work was spotted by a local art dealer.
“Dalí was quite obsessed with Moorish culture and believed that he himself was of Moorish descent,” says art expert Gabrielle Downie of auction house Cheffins, which will auction the canvas on October 23. You can see the painting in the image below.
