A controversial portrait by Salvador Dalí of his sister Ana María, given to her before the pair’s relationship deteriorated over details published in his autobiography, is on the market for the first time with a price tag of £800,000 to £1.2m.
Figura de perfil (La Hermana Ana María) (1925) depicts Ana María sat looking through a window at the Cadaqués coastline in north-eastern Spain. As with many of Dalí’s paintings of his sister, Ana María’s bottom is accentuated—a feature he stressed even more in a later version of the canvas, Young Virgin Auto-Sodomized by her Own Chastity (1954).
The second painting, which the artist created after he and his sister fell out over his written account of Dalí family life, was inspired by a photograph from a 1930s pornographic magazine. Its provocative nature fuelled rumours of the Surrealist painter’s sexual interest in Ana María.
Although he painted “countless portraits” of his sister, as she described it, Dalí only gave her Figura de perfi. The work has not been shown in public for a century, having been in the possession of the family of the current owner ever since Ana María gave it to them. The picture leads Bonhams Impressionist and Modern art sale on 2 March.
India Phillips, the head of department at Bonhams, describes the canvas as “laden with meaning and utterly enigmatic”. She adds: “What makes this work so remarkable is its sheer rarity—only a handful of works from this period exist outside public collections.”
