SANTA ANA : 4 Works Said to Be by Dali Will Be Sold

Four works of art said to be by the late Salvador Dali will be offered for sale Tuesday by the Internal Revenue Service at a public auction in Santa Ana. The works were seized along with several parcels of real estate for non-payment of taxes.

The works to be sold are a 1976 tapestry, “Lincoln in Dalivision”; a wood engraving, “Divine Comedy--The Misers” from 1963; and two hand-colored etchings from the “Astrology” series, “Aries” and “Leo,” both from 1984.

The shadow of forgery hangs over Dali graphics published after 1980, when the ailing artist was too ill to sign his name. Dali had signed thousands of sheets of blank paper during the ‘70s, and these were used for essentially worthless mass-market prints. Other fakes include prints made from plates based on Dali paintings or fragments of paintings.

Dali in 1985 prepared an affidavit declaring that he had not signed any prints, or even any blank paper, since December, 1979.

During the past few years, authorities have attempted to prosecute U.S. art galleries accused of selling thousands of fraudulent Dali prints as investment-quality art.

The IRS obtained appraisals by Richard G. Ruskin of Ruskin Fine Arts of Los Angeles attesting to the authenticity of all four of the works to be auctioned, however. Ruskin lists the fair-market value of the tapestry at $5,700. It measures 2 feet by 3 feet and has a surreal medley of images of Abraham Lincoln, Jesus Christ and a nude woman. Ruskin appraised the wood engraving at $420, and the etchings--executed in a saccharine manner much different from the style Dali is known for--at $240 each.

Authenticity and originality appear to mean two different things to Ruskin, however. In a telephone interview, he said of the etchings that each “is a Dali image and (has) a Dali signature, (but) I’m not stating that it is an original piece. The same thing with the ‘Lincoln’--it’s not an original tapestry.”

Ruskin said the artist pre-signed the paper for the etchings “but he authorized the images: (Dali said,) ‘You have the authority to put this image on this paper.’ It was strictly authorization, with no (personal) supervision.”

Dali had contracts specifying which images were to be re-created, Ruskin said, but he also said that “there are cases in which there are no contracts” and that it may be difficult to find existing contracts.

The images in the two etchings were based on a section of a watercolor by Dali, Ruskin said. Ruskin could not recall the title of the original piece.

The auction will be at the Police Annex Auditorium at 23 Civic Center Plaza. No minimum bids have been set. Bidder registration begins at 9:30 a.m., and the auction will be at 11 a.m. Pictures and descriptions of the property to be sold are posted in the second-floor lobby of the Federal Building, 34 Civic Center Plaza.

Property seized by the IRS is sold to the highest bidder. Any outstanding encumbrances become the responsibility of the purchaser. All personal property sales are final.

For information, call the IRS Seizure and Sale Hotline: (714) 643-4523.