Long Lost Dalí Paintings Enter Catalogue Raisonné

Two dreamlike landscapes by the Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí have been authenticated by the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, AFP reports.

Although they have long been aware of the existence of these two pieces—both from 1930 and entitled Simulacre de la nuit and Libre inclination du désir—Dalí experts had no idea of their whereabouts. They finally managed to locate the paintings thanks to press cuttings documenting the display of Le Simulacre in an exhibition in San Francisco in 1965, and of Libre inclination in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1935.

Talking to AFP, the director of the foundation’s study centre Montse Aguer said: “from then on, all we had to do was follow the thread, and we found the works.” It led them to a private collection and Yale University.

The pieces will be added to Dalí’s electronic catalogue raisonné, which was started in 2004 to document the oeuvre to the Catalan artist.