Woman Who Claimed to be Dalí's Daughter Ordered to Pay for Exhumation of Artist’s Body

In 2017, Maria Pilar Abel Martinez, the Spanish clairvoyant who claimed to be the daughter of Salvador Dalí, obtained the exhumation of the artist's body to prove – in vain – her parentage. Three years later, she now has to pay the full amount for the procedure.

Three years ago, the fortune teller Pilar Abel succeeded in obtaining a DNA test to prove her relationship with the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, whom she had been claiming as her father for years. Following the exhumation of the artist's embalmed body, a delicate procedure that included the removal of a tombstone weighing almost a ton, DNA analyses confirmed that Abel was in no way affiliated with the painter.

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The fortune-teller and clairvoyant from Girona always thought her birth was the result of an affair between her mother and Dalí in 1955. Dalí, who died in 1989, rested in a crypt located under a museum in Figueres, in Catalonia. Hair, nails and bone samples were taken from his body.

Salvador Dalí in Paris, around 1953, image © Reporters Associés / Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images

On Monday, the Madrid court demanded that the clairvoyant pay the costs of justice and exhumation. In a press release, the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, which controls the artist's estate, said that the Spanish courts had rejected Abel's appeal calling into question the chain of possession of Dalí’s remains, and that the court had ordered her to pay the fees.

“The Dalí Foundation wishes to express its satisfaction now that the memory of Salvador Dalí has been honoured,” said the organisation. “The court decision puts an end to this sad episode, which led to the exhumation of the remains of Salvador Dalí in July 2017.”

The court said there was “absolutely nothing to support” the psychic's latest allegations.

Pilar Abel at the National Institute of Toxicology to obtain a DNA test on 11 July 2017 in Madrid, Spain, image © Europa Press / Europa Press via Getty Images

Shortly after the exhumation, Abel said her financial situation was dire. Today, unsurprisingly, nothing has changed and she remains insolvent.

“His moustache is still intact, [like the hands on the clock] at 10.10 a.m., just as he liked it,” reassured Narcis Bardalet, the embalmer who prepared Dalí's body after his death and participated in exhumation.

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About the author

Laurianne Simonin

Laurianne Simonin is the Managing Editor at Barnebys Magazine. She has been writing for Barnebys French Magazine since 2018. After studying arts and photography, she worked in various cultural enterprises, both in galleries and in the museum sector. With a penchant for discoveries and objects with singular stories, Laurianne has written on a wide range of subjects ranging from archaeology to cinema, but is particularly fond of writing in-depth articles on ceramics, Art Deco and Japanese art. Laurianne is now Editor-in-Chief and oversees the editorial strategy of Barnebys' six language platform.