A Salvador Dali paternity test completed after his body was exhumed for DNA testing found that the Spanish woman who brought a legal case was not the surrealist artist's daughter, according to a statement released on Wednesday by Dali's foundation.
The foundation said the court supervising the tests had informed its lawyers that the woman, Maria Pilar Abel, was not Dali's biological daughter after comparing her DNA with samples taken from Dali's remains.
A spokesman for the court declined to confirm the results of the DNA tests.
Contacted by phone, Abel said she had not yet received the results from the court.
The Madrid court in June ordered forensic scientists to exhume Dali's body after Abel, who was born in Dali's home town of Figueres, filed a paternity claim that alleged her mother had an affair with him.
"This conclusion is not a surprise for the Foundation, since at no point has there been any evidence that she was a relative," said the foundation, which manages Dali's estate. "The Foundation is happy that this puts an end to an absurd and artificial controversy."
Dali, who died in 1989 at 84, was one of the 20th century's most famous and easily recognized artists. His paintings include "The Persistence of Memory," with its iconic images of melting clocks, and he also turned his hand to movies, sculpture and advertising.
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