Kempinski Hotel
The hotel denies that the collection, including lithographs, textiles and sculptures, was exhibited for sale
22.01.09 - 18:09 -
An art work attributed to Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali and confiscated by Spanish police is displayed in this undated photo released today. / REUTERS
Some 81 works of art believed to be by Salvador Dalí have been confiscated by police at Estepona’s Kempinski Hotel. The works had been brought to Spain from France and were being exhibited for sale, according to the National Police. The exhibition's organiser, a Frenchman, has been arrested in connection with document forgery and fraud.
The police investigations revealed that at least 12 of the works could have been stolen, according to Interpol files and the Spanish Police’s own data base. These 12 works belong to a series of identical prints reported as stolen in Spain, Belgium, France and the United States. Now detectives are waiting for the Gala Salvador Dalí Foundation to confirm whether the serial numbers coincide with the works reported as stolen.
The collection in the Kempinski included lithographs, textiles, bas-reliefs and sculptures. These included the three metre high figure of an elephant that was on sale for some 1,200,000 euros.
The Kempinski claims that the confiscated works “had not been exhibited” for sale, because the police had warned them that their origins were suspect.
Hotel sources explained that it was the arrested Frenchman who had proposed the exhibition, but that the management had objected due to the security measures that would be needed. “Then the police contacted us and recommended that we didn’t organise anything or do any deals”, added the sources.
