Françoise Gilot dared to create her own art in the overpowering shadow of her lover Picasso; she was the only woman who left him – and who survived him. Because of this iniquity, the Spanish master resented the French artist, who didn’t want to be just his muse, and ensured a boycott. It was only years later, after his death, that a great painter was discovered.
(...) Continue readingFrançoise Gilot – A grandmother’s support of Gilot’s dream of art
Françoise Gilot was born on 26 November 1921 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. She inherited her artistic talent from her mother Madelaine Renoult who was a talented watercolour painter, whilst her father, Emile Gilot, a wealthy businessman, aspired for his daughter to follow a career in law. However, Françoise defied her father’s authority and chose to follow painting, setting up her first studio in her grandmother’s house in Paris in 1938. In May 1943, with France still occupied by the National Socialists, she successfully organised her first exhibition, where she met the Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso. Forty years her elder, the artist was already separated from his first wife Olga Chochlowa, and he then left his lover Dora Maar for Françoise Gilot. The couple had two children: the photographer and filmmaker Claude Picasso-Ruiz and fashion designer Paloma Picasso.
Picasso’s anger almost destroyed Gilot’s career
At this time, Françoise Gilot was seen primarily as Picasso’s muse by the public, but she never gave up her own artistic ambitions. Picasso was opposed to this pursuit and when Gilot ended the relationship following the death of her grandmother in 1953 and returned to Paris with her children, an éclat ensued. The deeply offended master declared that no woman left a man like him; it was her duty to stay with him and to subordinate her personal happiness to the happiness of the family. Gilot did not stay but came to realise that her former lover’s influence was far-reaching: At first, she found it impossible to find buyers or exhibition opportunities because the raging Spaniard had forbidden any gallery owner to work with Gilot. The reason for this anger was also the book ‘Life with Picasso’, in which Gilot, supported by the journalist Carlton Lake, unsparingly revealed her destructive relationship with the Spanish painting genius. Picasso tried in vain three times to prevent the book’s publication, and in the end, the only thing left for him to do was to completely break all contact with Gilot and their shared children.
Gilot found a large audience for her pictures in the USA
Against all odds and with great inner strength, Françoise Gilot managed to emerge from Picasso’s shadow and to acquire a growing audience for her artistic work – in particular in the USA, where Picasso’s influence was less valid than in Europe. She painted primarily figuratively, but also made attempts at abstraction. One focus was on oil painting, and she also worked with prints. Over the years, she increasingly detached herself from form and colour and strove to expand her perception. Until his death in 1995, she found private happiness with the American doctor, Jonas Salk, who discovered the polio vaccine for children. Françoise Gilot received prizes and awards for her work, including the Ordre des Arts et Lettres, membership of the French Legion of Honour, and the Ordre national du Mérite. Although an age-related illness severely limited her vision, she never gave up painting: she was still alive, so she could continue painting.
Françoise Gilot celebrated her 100th birthday on 26 November 2021.
Françoise Gilot - Works that have already been sold at Kunsthaus Lempertz:
