A modestly priced painting bought for £150 at a house clearance sale in Cambridge has been authenticated as a genuine Salvador Dalí artwork, valued at £20,000 to £30,000. The piece, Vecchio Sultano, is part of Dalí's unfinished Middle Eastern folktale illustrations, which were largely unpublished and stored in a London garage. The discovery highlights the potential value hidden in overlooked art pieces and the importance of expert authentication.
"Dalíland" is a fictionalized look at the later years of artist Salvador Dalí, focusing on his struggles with producing new work and his tumultuous relationship with his wife Gala. The film is led by Ben Kingsley's performance as Dalí, with Barbara Sukowa as Gala. While the invented character of James serves as a proxy for the viewer, the real stars of the film are Dalí and Gala, who provide tension and mystery to the story. The film incorporates flashbacks to the couple's early years, helping to establish the emotional and psychological foundation for their relationship.
"DalíLand," a biopic about the famous surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, starring Sir Ben Kingsley, is a dull and unengaging film that fails to capture the colorful and larger-than-life personality of its subject. Directed by Mary Harron, the film lacks energy and fails to convince as a slice of mid-1970s art life. Despite the talent on hand, including Kingsley and German actress Barbara Sukowa, the film is uninspired and mostly plays like a mildly risqué sitcom. The worst sin of "DalíLand" is that it's boring, even when trying to tell the origin story of Dalí's famous painting "The Persistence of Memory."
