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Two years ago, a curious watercolour tucked away in a London garage surfaced at a house clearance sale in Cambridge.
It sold for just £150 (€173).
Now, that same artwork – a rare original by none other than the lobster-obsessed, moustache-twirling Surrealist icon Salvador Dalí – is poised to fetch up to £30,000 (€34,700) at auction this October.
The painting in question, titled “Vecchio Sultano (1966)”, depicts a regal sultan in a lavish, jewel-encrusted turban, inspired by the tales of The Arabian Nights.
Measuring 15-by-11 inches and created using watercolour and felt-tip pen, the piece is a far cry from Dalí’s melting clocks or dreamlike landscapes. But it has been authenticated by leading Dalí expert Nicolas Descharnes, and will go under the hammer at Cheffins’ Art and Design Sale in Cambridge.
The origins of the painting trace back to 1963, when wealthy Italian patrons Giuseppe and Mara Albaretto commissioned Dalí to illustrate a Bible. But, true to form, the artist had other plans.
“It seems Dalí was fascinated with Moorish culture and believed himself to be from a Moorish line,” said Gabrielle Downie, an associate at Cheffins. “While Dalí’s work is often some of the most recognisable, this is an unusual piece which shows a different side to his practice when working in watercolour.”
Instead, Dalí embarked on an ambitious series of illustrations inspired by “One Thousand and One Nights”, the legendary compendium of Middle Eastern folk tales. Although he initially agreed to create 500 works, he only completed 100.
“It seems that this project was abandoned,” Downie explained.
Half of the completed works were retained by publishing house Rizzoli, which had planned to release the collection – until the pieces were either lost or damaged. Eventually one of the pieces appeared unexpectedly in 2023 when a Cambridge-based antiques dealer spotted Vecchio Sultano at a house clearance sale.
The watercolour will go will go under the hammer at Cheffins’ Art and Design Sale in Cambridge on 23 October.
