Salvador Dali portrait, Joan Miro painting go under hammer at Sotheby's surrealist sale

A woman looks at a triptych by artist Francis Bacon entitled "Three studies for a Self Portrait" at Sotheby's auction house during a press preview in London, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. The work is estimated to sell for some 10 to 15 million pounds (US$ 15.8-23.7 million, euro 11.6-17.5 million )at auction on Feb. 12, in London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

The Associated Press
LONDON - Salvador Dali's portrait of a New York style icon and Joan Miro's homage to his Catalan roots are going on sale at a London auction of surrealist masterpieces.
Dali's 1943 "Portrait of Mrs. Harrison Williams" will go under the hammer Tuesday with an estimated price of between 1.5 million and 2 million pounds ($2.4 million and $3.2 million).
Dali painted the ultra-rich and super-stylish socialite — who later became Countess Mona Bismarck — barefoot and dressed in black rags.
Proceeds will go to the Mona Bismarck American Center in Paris, which promotes Franco-American cultural relations.
Also for sale is Miro's 1936 "The Farmer and His Wife," a vibrant portrait of human figures and barnyard animals, valued between 5.5 million pounds and 7.5 million pounds ($8.7 million to $11.9 million).
Reporters also were given a preview Thursday of Sotheby's February auctions of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art, including works by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Egon Schiele, Francis Bacon and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

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Last changed: January 31. 2013 12:48PM