The Great Masturbator Auction History

Salvador Dalí (the artist), 1929–1989; retained by Dalí during his lifetime, with early and repeated exhibitions documented in the Dalí Foundation’s catalogue raisonné [1]. Spanish State (Dalí bequest), 1989–1990; press reported the bequest and identified this work for installation at the Museo Reina Sofía [4][5]. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 1990–present; museum records confirm year of entry 1990 and credit line “Legado Salvador Dalí” [2][3].

No auction history for this painting: The Great Masturbator remained in Dalí’s collection until his death and entered the Spanish State via his bequest; it was assigned to the Museo Reina Sofía in 1990, where it is catalogued as a bequest entry [1][2][3][5]. Because it is publicly owned and integrated into Spain’s Historical Heritage, the work is inalienable and imprescriptible under Spanish law (Ley 16/1985), effectively removing it from the art market while in State ownership [7].

Why this matters for Dalí’s market: The painting’s absence from the trade does not diminish its market relevance; rather, it anchors the top tier of Dalí’s oeuvre in public collections. Its bequest-driven placement at the Reina Sofía—highlighted in contemporary reporting and later confirmations—underscored the work’s canonical status within Dalí’s Surrealist period [4][5][6]. For collectors and analysts, this means comparable market benchmarks must be drawn from other high-quality Dalí oils that have traded publicly.

Benchmarks and comparables: Dalí’s highest public auction price remains Portrait de Paul Éluard (1929), which sold for £13,481,250 at Sotheby’s London in 2011 [8]. More recently, Dalí’s market for important paintings has produced eight-figure results in dollars, such as the $10.7m achieved for L’Àngelus at Sotheby’s New York in 2021 (incl. fees) [9]. These benchmarks reflect strong demand for museum-grade Surrealist works from the late 1920s–mid 1930s. Were The Great Masturbator ever hypothetically deaccessioned (which current legal and institutional constraints make unlikely), its art-historical importance suggests it would stand at or above these comparables.

Bottom line: The Great Masturbator has no public sale record and resides in a national museum through bequest, protected by law from market circulation [2][3][7]. Market insights for Dalí therefore rely on comparable masterpieces that have appeared at auction, led by the 2011 record and subsequent major results [8][9].