Salvador Dalí Painting Discovered at House Clearance to Be Auctioned

A Salvador Dalí painting, titled "Vecchio Sultano," has been authenticated and is set to be auctioned on October 23, 2025. The artwork, measuring 38 cm by 29 cm, is a mixed-media piece created with watercolour paint and felt-tip pen, depicting a scene from "The Arabian Nights." It was discovered at a house clearance sale in Cambridge in 2023 and was previously offered for sale at Sotheby's in the 1990s, fully attributed to Dalí. The painting has been certified as authentic by Dalí expert Nicolas Descharnes and is expected to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000 at auction. The project was commissioned by Italian collectors Giuseppe and Mara Albaretto in 1963, who initially asked Dalí to illustrate a Bible. However, Dalí chose to illustrate scenes from "One Thousand and One Nights," a collection of Middle Eastern folktales. The project was abandoned after Dalí completed 100 of the intended 500 works. Half of these 100 works remained with the publishing house Rizzoli and were either damaged or lost; the other 50 stayed with the Albaretto family and were later inherited by their daughter, Christina, who was also Dalí's goddaughter. The 50 works retained by the family were published in 2016 by the Folio Society. Gabrielle Downie, an associate at Cheffins, commented on the rediscovery: "The loss of an attribution is quite rare in the modern art world, making this a significant rediscovery for Dalí scholars. To handle a genuine rediscovery of a work by one of the most famous artists in the world is a real honour." The upcoming auction is anticipated to attract significant interest from art collectors and scholars alike.