Françoise Gilot, a painter whose life, career and work are intimately linked to Pablo Picasso, died Tuesday in New York where she lived, according to a report in the New York Times. She was 101 years old.
Françoise Gilot had met Pablo Picasso in Paris in May 1943. A young painter of 21, she exhibited her paintings for the first time, while Pablo Picasso, 61, is already at the height of his fame. At that time, he was still in a relationship with Dora Maar. But after a few months, it is with Françoise Gilot that he settles, falling under the spell of this young girl from a good family, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, with a slender silhouette, fine features and high bearing.
Françoise Gillot and Pablo Picasso in 1948 in Paris. AFP-
Expelled from Spain by Franco, the Andalusian artist lived isolated in France, under the close surveillance of the Germans who occupied Paris. The darkness of these years, marked by war and his stormy relationship with Dora Maar, was followed by a lighter and brighter era. At first episodic, their relationship takes a new turn with the birth of Claude four years after their meeting, then Paloma in 1949. She followed Picasso to Golfe-Juan, then settled with him in Vallauris. On the canvases of the Spanish master, she becomes a radiant Woman-Flower. She hardly takes up her work on her side, in a more figurative style, then minimalist, but will remain for a long time in the eyes of the world the companion. However, the couple separated in 1955. She frees herself. Françoise Gilot will explain it in a book a few years later, Living with Picasso, which will earn her a lot of interest and new anger from her former companion.
Always admiring the artist, Françoise Gilot will not spare the man she describes as "domineering" and "invasive". In an interview with Paris Match in 2012, she tells how difficult their first steps were. She, a young woman out of adolescence and concerned about her independence. He, possessive and jealous while their meeting did not put an end to his adventures, especially with Dora Maar. "I wanted my freedom," she explained. I resisted him. " In 2020, a documentary will call her The Woman Who Says No.
After her separation from Picasso, Françoise Gilot married another painter, Luc Simon, then Jonas Salk, a New York biologist living in California. At the same time, she will continue to testify to the life of the master, through interviews or books, such as the one she devoted to Picasso's rivalry with Matisse. To celebrate the artist's centenary, the Esrine Museum, in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, dedicated a retrospective to Françoise Gilot on her "French Years", in 2021.