Salvador Dalí's Printemps nécrophilique up 14.83% pa since 1998

Surrealist Salvador Dalí's Printemps nécrophilique painting has made $16.3m at Sotheby's

Salvador Dalí's Printemps nécrophilique has sold for $16.3m at Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening sale in New York.

As we predicted last month, the 1936 masterpiece beat its $12m high estimate by 35.8%. The May 2 sale is continuing evidence of the popularity of the Spanish surrealist with art collectors.

It last sold at Christie's in 1998, where it achieved £1.3m ($2.2m), corresponding to a 14.83% pa rise for the work - a figure that will catch the eye of art investors.

Dali's Printemps necrophilique sold for $16.3m

The price was not far removed from the world record for Dali, set last year by his 1929 work Portrait de Paul Eluard, which made £13.48m ($20.94m) at Sotheby's.

"Surrealism is the last great movement of 20th century modernism to be fully appreciated in the marketplace, and a number of new benchmarks have been set just over the course of the last year" commented Simon Shaw, head of Sotheby's Impressionist and modern art department in New York.

And it's not just Dali's artwork that is selling well, his autograph too is rising in value. Dali signed photographs are up by 11.72% pa since 2000, from £325 ($510) to £1,100 ($1,725), according to the PFC40 Autograph Index.

Paul Fraser Collectibles is currently able to offer this superb original signed Salvador Dalí sketch, originating from the personal collection of the artist's wife and muse Gala Dalí.

The sale also featured the world record auction of Edvard Munch's The Scream, which made $119.9m.

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