The exhumation of Salvador Dali's body showed that the famous mustache retained its shape

FIGUERES (Spain), July 21 - RIA Novosti, Elena Shesternina. In the Salvador Dali Theater and Museum in the Catalan city of Figueres, nothing any longer reminds of the stormy night events that took place here the day before. Most tourists who enter the museum building do not even suspect that half a day ago experts exhumed the body of the great surrealist, who unexpectedly discovered an “illegitimate daughter”, Pilar Abel Martinez.

In June, a Madrid court granted the request of this woman, who makes a living by predicting the future and solving problems by removing damage, to exhume the body of Salvador Dali for DNA tests. Despite attempts by the Gala Salvador Dali Foundation and the mayor's office of Figueres to cancel or at least delay the exhumation, it was carried out.

At 09.00 on Friday - strictly according to schedule - the museum was opened to visitors. Tourists calmly walk on the slab, under which the master’s body rests at a depth of two meters - exactly as Dali himself bequeathed - “so that people could walk on his grave.” The glass dome over the grave, contrary to plans, was not closed during the exhumation. And so that no one had plans to remove the exhumation procedure from a drone through glass - which was what the museum feared - two tents were put up for the duration of the work - one over the grave, the second over the place where the specialists were working. The tents were removed for the opening of the museum.

A group of French tourists approaches the building of the house-museum. “Yes, I heard that the body was exhumed today and I find this unacceptable. I am a big fan of Dali, I came here for the second time. Disturbing the remains of the deceased and also because of some strange woman, who has no evidence that Dali is her father? Is this possible?” Isabel is indignant.

The mayor of the city of Figueres, Marta Felip, in an interview with RIA Novosti, admitted that all this fuss about the exhumation local residents was received with great pain. “We could never in our lives think about such a situation. The exhumation of the deceased is something very intimate, but here honor, memory and respect were literally invaded. This could have been avoided. There were other ways to solve the problem of “paternity.” But it’s been three weeks now ago we understood that exhumation was inevitable,” the mayor said.

However, the mayor does not lose optimism and hopes that thanks to this situation everything more people people from all over the world will find out exactly where Dali is buried and come to Figueres. “What happened, happened. This is the court’s decision. We complied with it. Every cloud has a silver lining. We have a chance to remind everyone once again where Dali’s grave is and where his museum is,” said Marta Felip.

The museum is also unhappy with the exhumation. The management tried to challenge the decision of the Madrid court, but they did not have time to consider the claim, and the Fund had to come to terms. “This should not have happened. For each of us who works at the museum, this is a personal tragedy,” says a museum employee who did not want to give her name.

The “seer’s” lawyer Enrique Blanques, in a conversation with a RIA Novosti correspondent, suggested that the results of DNA tests (and they will be carried out at the Institute of Toxicology in Madrid) will become known in two weeks. The museum's management is more cautious, believing that since August is a holiday period in Spain, there is no need to expect results before September.

If the results of the analysis do not confirm that Pilar Abel is Dali's daughter, the story will not end there. The lawyer is going to question the reliability and thoroughness of the examination. Blanques assured that “if the specialists manage to prove that there were no errors in the procedure, then the litigation will be terminated.”

Meanwhile, the museum's management said that in the event of a negative test result, "it will take appropriate action to bring to justice those who caused significant damage and material costs for the exhumation," the Dalí Foundation said in a statement. They are confident that “there is no indication that the plaintiff’s claims have any basis.” “The only thing she presented was a notarized statement from one lady, who says that she is a friend of her mother, and who claims that she allegedly told her that the father of her daughter was Dali,” the head of the Gala Foundation said at a press conference. Salvador Dali" Juan Manuel Sevillano.

If experts establish that Dali is indeed the biological father of Pilar Abel, then Spain will face new trials. By law, a direct heir could claim 25% of the artist’s fortune, who had no legitimate children. No one can say exactly what amount we are talking about right now. In 1989, Dali's legacy was estimated at $136 million, since then the amount has increased several times. According to some estimates, Abel could claim 300 million. Most of Dali's inheritance belongs to the Spanish state - hundreds of paintings, as well as the artist's property in Catalonia. The Dali Foundation says that if the inheritance trial takes place, he will not participate in it. “Pilar Abel could theoretically claim 25% of the inheritance, but this would be a claim not against the Foundation, but against the Spanish state. The Foundation will not be involved in this process,” said Foundation lawyer Albert Segura.

The seer's lawyer, Enrique Blanques, claims that Pilar Abel is not interested in money at all, but in establishing the truth. “No, she’s not doing this for money. She gives interviews for free. Her mother told her that she was Dali’s daughter when Abel was little,” the lawyer recalled. However, according to another version, which was previously repeatedly voiced by the “seer,” another woman, her paternal grandmother, was the first to tell her about her “real father.” “I know that you are not my son’s daughter, you are from a great artist, but I still love you,” said the grandmother, adding that she is “as strange as her father (meaning Dali - ed.)” states the "soothsayer".

The “seer” has already passed her DNA tests. Next up are tests for her mother, 87-year-old Antonia Martinez de Haro, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

It was previously reported that during the exhumation, “samples of two large bones, hair and nails” of the artist were taken. It was noted that his body was well preserved thanks to embalming. “That’s why the famous mustache retained its shape,” “it was a very emotional moment,” said Luis Peñuelas, general director of the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation.

The trial, which will finally decide whether Dali was the father of Pilar Abel, will take place on September 18.

A court in Spain has ordered the exhumation of the remains of Salvador Dali. This is necessary to continue hearings on the claim of a woman who claims to be the only daughter of the world famous surrealist. If this is indeed the case, she will be entitled to a share of the vast wealth and legacy of one of the most famous and prolific artists of the 20th century.

The court in Madrid said Dalí's exhumation was necessary "to obtain samples of his remains to determine whether he is the biological father of a woman from Girona (in northeastern Spain) who has filed a claim to be recognized as the artist's daughter."

“The DNA study of the artist’s body is necessary due to the lack of other biological or personal remains with which to conduct a comparative analysis,” the conclusion says.

The Dalí Foundation, which manages the artist's estate, said it would file an appeal "in the coming days" but did not provide details.

Pilar Abel (left) with her 86-year-old mother Antonia Martinez de Jaro in 2015. Photo: The New York Times

61-year-old clairvoyant Pilar Abel claims her mother had an affair with Dali while she was working as a nanny for a family holidaying in Port Ligat, a tiny fishing village on the coast near Cadaques. There the painter lived and worked for years with his muse Gala.

Pilar Abel Martinez was born on February 1, 1956 in the Catalan city of Figueres, she claims that her mother had a secret relationship with the artist in Port Ligat. In 1955, the mother moved to Castellon de Empurias, got married and after some time had a daughter.

According to Pilar, she first heard that she was Dali’s illegitimate daughter from her grandmother, the mother of her official father.

“My grandmother told me: “I know that you are not the daughter of my son, I know that your father is a great artist. And she said that his name was Dali,” Abel said in an interview with the Catalan television channel TV3 in 2015. She added that her mother later admitted the truth of these words.

In 2015, Pilar Abel filed her first lawsuit to establish paternity, but the court took her side only in June 2017. If the examination really proves that the great surrealist is her biological father, Pilar will be able to claim his surname and copyright.

On the left is Maria Pilar Abel Martinez, on the right is Salvador Dali.

The fortune teller loves to imitate the gestures and mannerisms of her supposed father and repeats all the time: “The only thing I’m missing is a mustache.” In 2007 and 2008, she conducted several DNA tests using hair and skin remaining on Dali's death mask, but the results were inconclusive.

Pilar's lawyer, Enrique Blanquez, told AFP that the affair "was known in the village and some people gave evidence in the presence of a notary." The lawyer added that there was a certain woman “who worked for Dali, whom he paid to find out the fate of the plaintiff’s mother.”

Salvador Dali was born on May 11, 1904 in Figueres, into a bourgeois family. From an early age he showed interest in painting, and in 1922 he entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid.

He was expelled from there twice, but at the same time developed his first artistic ideas together with the poet Federico García Lorca and director Luis Buñuel.

Soon Dali left for Paris, where he joined the surrealist movement, giving it new breath and meaning with his works. Returning to Catalonia 12 years later, Dali invited the French poet Paul Eluard and his Russian wife Elena Ivanovna Dyakonova to Cadaques. This meeting became decisive in the artist’s fate...

Elena then became the artist’s lover, muse and life partner, receiving the nickname Gala from him. The couple never had children.

There is evidence that the artist was embarrassed by his sexuality and was more of a voyeur than a participant in sexual games. In general, this topic is dark...

Salvador Dali and Gala

After Gala's death in 1982, Dali was broken both as a person and as an artist. He died seven years later on January 23, 1989 at the age of 85 from heart failure, and was buried in the Dalí Theater and Museum in Figueres, as he had wished.

He wanted his whole life and its manifestations to be accessible to the people, he wanted to be buried under a nameless slab on which people could walk. Now anyone can come to the crypt of the great surrealist.

The museum's management tried to delay the exhumation. The mayor of the city, Marta Felip, said that “even with all the desire to execute the court decision, it is almost impossible to do this on July 20,” and that it is “not such a simple thing.

She recalled that the artist rests in a crypt under a stone slab that weighs a ton. In addition, the building is a heritage building of National Cultural Interest. Therefore, it is necessary to request permission to carry out the work.

The exhumation process was initially expected to begin at 9 a.m. (10 a.m. Moscow time) Thursday, but the court agreed to postpone the start of work until the evening, after the museum was closed to the public. That is, work will begin at 20.00 pm local time (21.00 Moscow time) and should be completed by Friday morning. The process will involve a forensic team and court representatives.

Watch the ren.tv video in which the woman who declared herself the daughter of Salvador Dali explained why she sought exhumation

I agree with the announcer of the report that in famous museum Salvador Dali's most scandalous performance will take place in Catalonia... Experts and art critics are sure that Martinez is fighting for the truth, and is trying to win Dali's inheritance.

Music: Victor Zinchuk “Lonely in the Night”

Salvador Dali's remains were exhumed in July this year as Spanish authorities tried to determine whether the great artist fathered a child as a result of an affair. The secretive procedure obtained samples of hair, fingernails, teeth and several bones from the artist's embalmed body, and DNA obtained from the samples could offer a definitive answer that could help resolve a long-running, high-profile paternity trial.

Dali's mustache has retained its shape!

On this moment The answer to the main question is imprecise, but forensic experts were able to uncover one very interesting detail when they briefly removed Dalí's body from his tomb located at the Dalí Theater and Museum in Figueres: his legendary mustache remained in perfect shape. “His mustache retained the same classic position 10 hours 10 minutes, said Lewis Peñulas, general secretary Dali Foundation. “Discovering this was a very exciting moment.” The forensic doctor who embalmed the great artist's body in 1989 was also present during the procedure, which took place in July 2017 and took only a few hours. “It was a real miracle! - said Narcis Bardalet. “Salvador Dali is eternal.”

DNA paternity test

It may also turn out that he is the father. At least that's what 61-year-old Pilar Abel, who specializes in reading Tarot cards, says. She claims that the great artist had an affair with her mother in 1955, that is, one year before her birth. “The first time I saw him, I was a little girl,” she told reporters three years ago when she filed a lawsuit to claim part of the artist’s estate. “I was on a walk with my great-grandmother and she showed it to me.” At this time Dali was married, although, as is typical for a man like him, this marriage was far from the most ordinary. “At the time he was married to his muse Gala, who lived in the castle, which he could only visit with written permission,” explained journalist Lauren Fryer. - They didn't have children. Since Dalí had no heir, his entire fortune, amounting to hundreds of millions, was left to the Spanish state in 1989 when he died.”

Did Dali have a child?

In 2007, Abel made her claim public and has been searching for evidence ever since, saying she wanted to honor her mother in a similar way. Enrique Blanques, Abel's lawyer, also reports that if such evidence is found, Abel will be able to claim a quarter of Dali's estate, which he left after his death. Peñulas and the Dali Foundation, which manages the artist's estate, did not want the exhumation to take place, so attempts were made to fight the exhumation order issued by a Madrid judge in June 2017. Representatives of the Foundation also promised that they would continue to defend their position in court. “The Foundation considers that the exhumation of Salvador Dalí's body was completely inappropriate,” said a statement issued by the Foundation after the exhumation was completed and Dalí's body was returned to its place.

Position of representatives of the Dali Foundation

“Before agreeing to such an invasive act as the exhumation of the body of Salvador Dalí, the applicant Pilar Abel Martinez should have taken a DNA test herself to compare her DNA with the DNA of her legal father (deceased) or her brother, in order to obtain all the necessary evidence that she is not their daughter or sister, respectively,” representatives of the foundation believe. However, Abel herself is now confident that the forensic experts currently working on this case will prove her right. After all, she thinks she looks exactly like Salvador Dali. “The only thing I don’t have is a mustache,” she said. It remains to wait quite a bit, and the world will find out whether Dali had children.

The body of painter Salvador Dali was exhumed on the evening of July 20 to take a DNA sample to settle a paternity case.

Samples for the test were taken from the artist's teeth, bones and nails during a four-hour operation. The exhumation took place as a result of a court order - the request of Maria Pilar Abel Martinez was satisfied, who claims that her mother had an affair with the artist, and she herself is his daughter.
If she is right, she will be able to lay claim to Dali's inheritance, currently owned by the Spanish state.

The surrealist artist, who died in 1989 aged 85, was buried in a crypt at a museum dedicated to his life and work in Figueres, north-east Spain.

On Thursday evening, shortly before the exhumation, a crowd gathered outside the museum to watch police escort experts into the building. As soon as the last visitors of the day left the museum, the 1.5-ton stone slab that lies over Dalí's grave was lifted so that experts could reach the artist's body.

Experts who exhumed Salvador Dali's body to take samples reported that the mustache mysterious artist still adorn his face almost three decades after his death.

Narcissus Bardalet, an embalmer who cared for Dalí's body after his death in 1989 and helped with the exhumation process, said he was delighted to see the surrealist's most recognizable feature again.

Exhumation took place despite objections local authorities and the Dali Foundation, who argued that there were insufficient reasons for this.

Maria Pilar Abel Martinez, a tarot card reader born in 1956, says her mother Antonia had an affair with Dalí for a year before Abel was born. Her mother worked for a family who spent time in Cadaques, not far from the artist's home.

Last month, a Madrid judge ordered a settlement brought by the woman. The lawsuit is being disputed by the Dalí Foundation, which manages the estate of the artist, who had no children.

Pilar Abel says her mother and paternal grandmother told her early age that Dali was her real father. But the claim has surprised many, including Ian Gibson, Dalí's Irish biographer, who believes it is simply impossible. “Dali always boasted that he was impotent and that you had to be impotent to become a great artist,” the biographer said.

Pilar Abel has been trying to prove her origins for the last 10 years and says the physical resemblance to the surrealist artist is so strong that "the only thing missing is a mustache."

In 2007, she was allowed to try to extract DNA from traces of skin and hair found on Dali's funeral mask. However, the results were inconclusive. Another attempt at DNA testing was made later that year, using material provided by the artist's friend and biographer Robert Descharnes.

Although Abel claimed that she never received the results of the second test, in 2008 Desharnes' son Nicolas told the Spanish news agency Efe that he learned from the doctor who carried out the tests that they were negative.

The results of the latest DNA test are expected in one to two months. After testing the samples, they will be returned to Dali's grave.