Figueres, 12 June 2015
Antoni Pitxot, director of the Dalí Theatre-Museum and vice-president of the Dalí Foundation, passed away last 12 June.
He was born in Figueres in January 1934 into a family with a strong artistic tradition that was closely linked to the Dalís. He began his drawing studies in San Sebastián under Juan Núñez, who had also been Salvador Dalí's drawing teacher in Figueres. He lived in in San Sebastián and Madrid until settling permanently in Cadaqués in 1966. During this period his work took a decisive turn. He focused his attention on studying the objects around him: the stones of Cadaqués, from which he extracted anamorphic, anthropomorphic and allegorical visions, connecting with an underground current of Western painting ranging from some of the masters of Italian Mannerism to surrealism. Dalí chose his work as part of the permanent collection on display on the second floor of the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres and appointed him as Director of the Theatre-Museum.
During his professional career Antoni Pitxot's work appeared in many individual and collective exhibitions, from 1955 up to the one currently on display at the Cadaqués Municipal Museum entitled Dalí. Pitxot. Cadaqués. About painting.
He received numerous awards and honours over the years: in 2004 the Ministry of Culture awarded him the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts, which was presented by His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain in the city of Cáceres. In 2014, Figueres City Council recognised Antoni Pitxot's cultural and civic career with the Silver Fig Leaf award. And this year, Cadaqués Town Council honoured him with the title of Cadaqués' favourite son.
