From ‘garage’ to sale at the end of next month, some of the works by Salvador Dalí found in Mayfair

PRINTS by surrealist artist Salvador Dalí have been found in a “garage” after the owner was doing a clean out and had simply forgotten they were there.

The 10 lithographs (see examples above), signed by the artist, were discovered in a home in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, by antiques expert Chris Kirkman.

They had been “tucked away”, collecting dust for around 50 years, according to an auction house that has valued them at £5,000 ahead of them going under the hammer at the end of September.

The find also included five lithographs by French painter and sculptor Theo Tobiasse (1927-2012).
Mr Kirkman, associate director of London’s Hansons Richmond auction house, said: “It was an amazing find. I was invited to assess some antiques at a client’s home. During the visit the vendor took me to his garage and, lo and behold, out came this treasure trove of surrealist lithographs, all 15 of them.

“They’d been tucked away and forgotten about for around 50 years. It felt quite surreal. You never know what you’re going to uncover on a routine home visit.

“The buyer paid a modest £500 for the lithographs, all unframed, in a closing down sale at a central London gallery in the 1970s.

“He purchased them with a view to framing them for his home in Berkeley Square but never got round to it. So the prints ended up in his garage. They were rediscovered because the seller has been having a clear out.

“He’s looking to retire and move abroad, so now his lithographs will finally see the light of day at auction.”

The Dalí prints will be guided at £300 to £500 each and the Tobiasse prints at slightly less, being guided at £100 to £300. Mr Kirkman said what an opportunity it was to own your own Dalí.

He said: “Dalí and Tobiasse are highly regarded and anything connected to them is sought after.

“These lithographs provide an inexpensive way to own a signed print.”

Renowned Catalonian-born artist Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) is known for his surrealist, dreamlike paintings, one of his iconic works being 1931 The Persistence of Memory, where melting clocks drape over various objects. He is known as being one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

Previous works by Dalí that have gone under the hammer have sold for millions. In 2012 his piece titled Printemps Nécrophilique sold for just over £10million at Sotheby’s New York and, in 2011, Portrait De Paul Eluard, 1929, went for £13.5million at Sotheby’s in London, making it the most expensive Dalí ever sold.