For 50 years, ten signed prints by Spanish artist Salvador Dalí had been hidden in a garage in London. Now, the colourful lithographs are headed to auction.
Unlike most artistic finds featured in OGN Daily, these lithographs are likely to be affordable to mere mortals, as each Dalí print is expected to fetch £300 to £500 ($400 to $660) when they go under the hammer on 30 September.
Chris Kirkham, associate director of Hansons Richmond auction house in London, discovered the pieces when a client asked him to assess antiques at his home in Berkeley Square. “During the visit, the vendor took me to his garage, and, lo and behold, out came this treasure trove of Surrealist lithographs,” says Kirkham in a statement from the auction house. “They’d been tucked away and forgotten about for around 50 years.”
Along with the ten Dalí prints, the homeowner also had five lithographs by Théo Tobiasse, a French painter and sculptor. Born in Spain in 1904, Dalí was one of the most prominent painters of the Surrealist movement.
The homeowner bought the collection of loose lithographs from a London gallery in the 1970s, according to Hansons. He paid £500 for the entire collection.