Salvador Dali statue yours for £17,000 at Llangollen

Jun 4 2008 By David Simister

Salvador Dali statue

A STATUE by Salvador Dali will be one of the stars of the Llangollen Gardening Show when it goes on sale this weekend.

La Femme en Flambé - The Woman in Flames - is the work of creative genius Dali and will cost a cool £16,995 when it is sold at the show, being staged at the town’s Royal International Pavilion this weekend.

"People who appreciate gardens will appreciate art and this link is something we positively set out to achieve – it’s a new dimension and I’m not aware of any other garden show that does it" said Stephen Green, the event’s organiser.

The three feet high statue, cast from bronze and silver plating, is the work of creative genius Salvador Dali, best known for the iconic melting clocks depicting in his painting The Persistence of Memory.

It is the first time one of his artworks has been sold in North Wales and has been authenticated by auction house Sotheby’s, who sold it to its present owner six years ago.

"It is a lovely piece, and it is great that we’ve got the opportunity to put it up at Llangollen. Dali is a big name and you can’t get much better authentication than from Sotheby’s" said Steve Turner of UK Fine Arts, who is masterminding the sale as part of an arts exhibition at the show.

La Femme en Flambé is believed to have been created in 1970 by the eccentric Spanish artist, who died in 1984 aged 84.