#AtoZ Challenge: Françoise Gilot (Picasso)

Françoise Gilot was born in November 1921, making her 96 years old at present. She is the mother of two of Picasso’s children: a son, Claude, and a daughter, Paloma. Sadly, their family story is not a happy one. Françoise was a mere 21 years old when she met the artist, who was 61 at the time. The couple were together for 10 years from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s. Françoise was an artist herself. Her father had wanted her to be a lawyer, but Françoise always was more interested in art. Of course, with Picasso, Françoise was amidst the greatest artists of the 20th century and was influenced by Picasso and his talented friends.

—Portrait of Françoise, Pablo Picasso, 1946, pencil on paper, Musée Picasso, Paris

After Picasso and Françoise’s relationship ended, she married another artist. Later, after divorcing Luc Simon, Françoise met and married Dr. Jonas Salk, famed for developing the polio vaccine. They were married until Dr. Salk died in 1995.

More than 10 years after her relationship with Picasso ended, Françoise wrote a book called Life with Picasso. The book sold over a million copies. Picasso had tried to block publication of the book through the legal system but lost. The artist was furious with Françoise. For retribution, he told her he would never see his children with Françoise ever again. He basically kept that promise but was vastly influenced by Jacqueline Roque, who he eventually married.

Françoise Gilot is still a working artist.

From her website:

Even after seventy years, Françoise Gilot continues to work as a painter wresting from form and color a visual statement that is at once both personal and universal. She is not content with the known; she views her task as an artist to transform and extend perceptions and to stimulate viewers towards new insights and experiences. In Gilot’s most recent paintings, the forces of nature, time and space are her preoccupations. Clearly, Gilot’s own explorations and achievements as an artist demonstrate how the vitality of a tradition can be maintained while simultaneously moving forward into the uncharted territories of the art world continuum.

An almost 6-minute video from CBS Sunday Morning:

My favorite picture of Picasso and Francoise:

Sources: bust.com, francoisegilot.com, Wikipedia