Blog

Salvador Dali’s body will be exhumed this week for paternal testing. Wait, what?

On July 20th the artist’s body will be exhumed from its elaborate tomb in his hometown of Figueres, Spain to prove (or not) that he had a daughter. Could this get more surreal?

Pilar Abel, a 58-year-old astrologist and tarot reader from Gerona (Spain) has filed a paternity suit in a Madrid court, claiming she is the daughter of the Spanish artist. Did she see it in the stars?

Anyway, here are the (not so many) facts.

According to Abel, her mother used to work as domestic help for a family who would often vacation in Cadaqués, where Dalí also had a house. The surrealist painter and the young maid became friendly, and their friendship soon developed into an affair, the result of which is allegedly Pilar, who was born in 1956.

It is said that the initial lawsuit included various testimonies of the village neighbours, who all confirmed the fact of the affair.

Pilar started her pursuit for a father a while ago – in 2007 and 2008 she already had some DNA tests done using hair and skin remains from Dalí’s death mask, but the results proved inconclusive.

Interestingly, Abel’s lawyer is Francesc Bueno, who is well known in the Spanish media for having represented Albert Solá, a waiter who filed and lost a paternity suit against Juan Carlos I of Spain, the King of Spain at the time.

Well, that’s one real-life story to follow closely!

kaczynskal

Recent Posts

Digital Artist Cromwell on Generative Art, Soul, and Scale

Katherine, known in the art world as Cromwell (cromwell-zla.art), is a Venezuelan digital artist and…

3 days ago

Sofia Art Fair 2025: Turning Bulgaria’s Capital into a Hub for Global Cultural Dialogue

From 2–5 October, Sofia is hosting the second edition of Sofia Art Fair (SAF) —…

1 week ago

Celebrating the Ordinary. An Interview with Anna Voda

For Anna Voda (annavoda.art), art has never been just a profession—it has always been a…

2 weeks ago

Meet the Finalists of the Digital Innovation in Arts & Culture Award 2025

The future of culture is being written today — by innovators who are pushing the…

3 weeks ago

Too Young to Pretend—Interview with Katie Butler

Canadian painter Katie Butler (katiebutler.art) is part of a new generation of artists unafraid to…

3 weeks ago

art&: Croatia’s First Art Therapy Initiative

Above: Dora Derado Giljanović, PhD — art historian, curator, and founder of art&, Croatia’s first…

4 weeks ago