The Dalí and their secret child, a family relationship without blood ties

Salvador Dalí and Joan Figueras, on the way from Portlligat to Cadaqués, in 1952. Francesc Català-Roca.

Photographic collection F. Català-Roca del Arxiu Històric del / Col.legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya

José Ángel Montañés, author of

(Roca Editorial), a book that reveals the relationship of the painter and Gala with Joan Figueras (1942-1999), considers that this relationship was typical of a family, although without blood ties .

Montañés, who highlights the tenderness that the Dalí showed with the boy Joan, sees nothing strange or shady in the bond that the couple with whom they met him was a five-year-old boy maintained for almost four decades.

The

, as it was known in the environment of Dalí, friendly, naughty, sparky, came and went freely from house them, he stayed to eat and sleep (even in bed with them), became a model for the painter ( It is the baby Jesus from

) and was present almost uninterruptedly in the life of the artist and Gala, who cared for and pampered him like a godson and even like a son.

"In all my research I have not seen any indication that there could be something illicit in the relationship and yes a lot of affection, and the need for affection," emphasizes Montañés (Murcia, 58 years old), a journalist for EL PAÍS who has dedicated five and a half years to trace the story of

, a gripping, highly entertaining book that features a highly complimentary foreword by Ian Gibson.

“You have to put yourself in the moment, things that may seem strange to us in the 21st century, in the fifties of the last century they were common: that children could grow up at their own pace, wander on their own, go to other people's houses without stop any ".

For Joan's family, who were good acquaintances of Salvador and his parents, it was an opportunity for Dalí and Gala to notice the boy and take a liking to him;

While the town ate sardines, in

Dalí they ate lobster.

"But it

should be noted that there were limits: do not let parents will take the

to raise him

to the

US, and the mother had certain misgivings Gala".

Montañés, a good connoisseur of the painter's environment, also points out that the fact that it was the two of them, Dalí and Gala, who professed affection for Joan also indicates that the story has more to do with the couple's need to recreate a family, even if it was artificial, than with anything else.

"Both Gala and Dalí find an affection that they did not have, he for not having children, she because she did not find it in her daughter Cécile".

The author highlights the "undeniable tenderness" that the story of the secret child of the Dalí gives off and that, as Gibson points out in the prologue, extraordinarily humanizes two characters who have been characterized and judged most often for their histrionics and, above all, all in the case of Gala, for her coldness and harshness, than for her feelings.

The book is full of emotional testimonies of the relationship: how they play with him, send him letters and postcards (“Señoritito finito”, “Juanett boniquet”) and bring him gifts from their travels (Dalí's friends too, like Walt Disney, that he gives Joan baseball clothes);

the photos of the child who hangs Gala in the cupboards, the trips to Barcelona with Joan, to the cinema, to the zoo, to see an American aircraft carrier (always staying at the Ritz).

Even as Joan grew up, ties were not broken.

One of the most curious things about the book - the product of Montañés' accredited investigative and documentation talent, a true journalistic hound - is that no one had explained the story before.

“In Cadaqués everyone knew about the

of

Dalí, but it had never transcended the local sphere, despite the fact that Joan's presence was obvious in more than a hundred photos.

Nobody had entertained in putting the news together and offering the

complete

;

I guess it hadn't attracted attention;

the Dalí issue is so broad and complex… ”.

Montañés has interviewed Joan's widow, Mercè Cabanes, one of his daughters and dozens of other characters, such as Paquita Buetas, Dalí's cook, who have been able to shed light on the story, a long story that goes from 1948 to 1982 , when Gala dies and the painter leaves the home of Portlligat, secluded in Púbol and surrounds himself with the last clique, to which Joan, who never wanted to take advantage of the relationship, did not join.

The almost detective investigation can also be read as a wonderful biographical approach to Dalí from an unusual angle and revealing of unexpected aspects of the artist.

Montañés has not considered continuing to investigate Dalí, but he does not rule out a new book on another subject of his research: the controversial Palamós cloister.