A Salvador Dali painting discovered during a house clearance and purchased for just £150 ($190) has sold for an astounding £45,700 ($58,000) at a Cheffins Art & Design auction in Cambridge. The artwork, titled "Vecchio Sultano" (Old Sultan in Italian), depicts a scene from The Arabian Nights and far exceeded its pre-sale estimate of £20,000-30,000 ($25,000-38,000).
The mixed media piece, created using watercolor paint and felt-tip pen, measures 38cm x 29cm and dates back to 1966. It represents one of only 100 completed illustrations from an ambitious series of 500 Middle Eastern folktales that Dali had originally planned to create. The project was commissioned by wealthy Italian couple Dr. Giuseppe and Mara Albaretto, who intended to publish the complete collection through Italian publishing house Rizzoli.
However, Dali abandoned the ambitious Arabian Nights project after completing only 100 of the planned 500 illustrations. The fate of these completed works became divided: half remained with Rizzoli publishers, where many were subsequently damaged or lost over the years. The other 50 illustrations stayed with the Albaretto family and were later inherited by their daughter Christina, who was also Dali's goddaughter.
The Albaretto family's collection of 50 illustrations was eventually published in 2014 by The Folio Society, which renewed scholarly interest in the project and sparked curiosity about the whereabouts of the missing pieces. Art experts believe the "Vecchio Sultano" painting was part of the original batch that had remained with Rizzoli publishers before somehow making its way to England.
The remarkable discovery began in 2023 when an anonymous Cambridge-based antiques and art dealer acquired the piece at a house clearance sale for just £150. The seller had reportedly stored the painting in a London garage before it appeared at the house clearance in central Cambridge. After purchasing the work, the dealer brought it to Cheffins auction house, where experts identified and authenticated the piece as a genuine Dali.
"I am over the moon with this result and am appreciative of everything which Cheffins has done in the lead up to the sale," said the anonymous dealer who discovered the painting. "It was genuinely very exciting to see it go under the hammer, and I am glad that it has reached the recognition which it deserves. The final price is around what we expected, and I was glad to see it sell after all the hard work and research which went into it."
Brett Tryner, director at Cheffins auction house, emphasized the significance of the discovery for Dali scholarship. "This work was a significant rediscovery for Dali scholars, and the picture saw incredible amounts of interest in the lead up to the auction," Tryner explained. "It had previously been offered at Sotheby's in the 1990s, attributed to Dali, and subsequently disappeared from public record – an unusual occurrence in the modern art world."
The authentication process involved extensive research and examination by leading Dali expert Nicolas Descharnes, who confirmed the artwork's authenticity. Descharnes verified that the piece was consistent with other known examples from the series in both artistic style and paper quality. "Researching and cataloguing this piece has been an exciting journey, and we're thrilled that it achieved above its estimate," Tryner added.
This remarkable story highlights how valuable artworks can sometimes surface in the most unexpected places, turning a modest investment into a significant windfall. The successful sale demonstrates the enduring appeal of Salvador Dali's work and the importance of proper authentication in the art world.
