The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has already secured $4 million for the painting but is calling on the public to contribute $1.5 million more to buy the surrealist's work so it can remain in Australia.

The painting, titled Trilogy Of The Desert: Mirage, depicts a woman plucking a flower from a bust of a Renaissance sculpture and is currently displayed at the gallery on loan.

It was one of three paintings commissioned by Shulton Cosmetics, the creators of Old Spice cologne, to promote a new perfume in 1946 and has been kept in a private collection overseas since the mid-1960s.

Director Tony Ellwood said the work would be a jewel in the gallery's surrealist crown, which already holds works by Max Ernst, Rene Magritte and Sidney Nolan.

"The work of Salvador Dali has had an indelible influence on art movements, artists and pop culture that continues to this day," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The addition of a painting by Dali would be a defining acquisition for the gallery and for Australia."

The moustachioed Spaniard is one of the most famous artists of the 20th century and a pioneer of the surrealist art movement.

Australian Associated Press