Oil painting bought at a Spanish antique shop for $ 200, recognized as an early work of Salvador Dali Automatic translate

MADRID. On Thursday, art experts officially announced that a painting painted in oil and purchased at an antique store in Spain more than two decades ago for 150 euros ($ 200) was recognized as one of the first surrealist works that Salvador Dali created in his teens.

Tomo L’Amo, an artist and art historian, found a canvas in a store in Gerona, northeastern Spain in 1988, and suspecting that it was the work of a brilliant surrealist, he paid 25,000 pesetas for it. "I was very happy. I felt like a child in a pastry shop, ”he said at a press conference in Madrid to discuss the results of the examination of the work. “When I saw these shades I immediately thought about Dali, but that was just my opinion. No evidence. Gradually, little by little, I examined the canvas until I became convinced that it was indeed Dali. ”

Salvador Dali - Intrauterine Birth of Salvador Dali

"The intrauterine birth of Salvador Dali" (The Intrautirine Birth of Salvador Dali) - this is the name of the picture - depicts angels soaring in the sky above the volcano. On the canvas there is a brief dedication and date, due to which the canvas has been considered a work of an unknown artist for many years. The painting was allegedly painted 8 years before the birth of Dali, in 1896. However, comprehensive studies of the work, including infrared photography, x-ray and ultraviolet radiation, proved that the canvas could not be written before 1909 and most likely dates back to about 1921, when the artist was 17 years old.

The painting is made with thick strokes, the direction of which is indicated by strokes of black and blue pencils - a technique often used by Dali. These lines are clearly visible in infrared photographs and allow you to compare them with other works of the artist. To study the handwriting, which made the inscription on the canvas, they involved the best expert of Interpol - Jose Pedro Wenzal, who said: “Samples of dedication and signature texts coincide with the artist’s handwriting in the 1920s.” The text of the initiation even contains a mistake corrected by hand Salvador Dali that also confirmed the examination.

Another piece of evidence in the chain is that the young Catalan artist composed a play about angels, which he probably illustrated with this piece. As for the mismatching date, experts came to the conclusion that this is a numerological joke of an artist who loved draws.

This was probably the case with the date - he deliberately misled the descendants, and possibly hid a certain secret message in this, since it is known that in his youth the artist was fond of numerology. What exactly means the date indicated on the canvas is not yet known.

Interestingly, Tomo L’Amo has already found a buyer for his painting. True, neither the amount of the transaction, nor the identity of a private collector has been disclosed.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru