Painter Françoise Gilot - Picasso's ex-lover who was 40 years younger - was once prevented from pursuing her career in France by the famous artist, and had to go to America to continue painting.
According to Beauxarts , the exhibition Françoise Gilot opened on March 12 and is scheduled to last for a year at the Picasso Museum (France). The theme focuses on Gilot's painting career and close relationship with the group of contemporary French abstract artists, and also introduces her books.
The Guardian reports that French galleries had avoided showing Françoise Gilot's work as a result of her separation from Picasso in 1953 and the publication of her memoir Life with Picasso (1964), which revealed the dark side of a 10-year affair. He forced art establishments stopped displaying Gilot's paintings after she "abandoned" them. The museum's organizers wanted to correct the mistake of the art world in the past, recognizing Françoise Gilot as an artist in her hometown.
Joanne Snerch, the museum's curator, said the exhibition's goal was to help her shed the title of "Picasso's lover," so no Picasso work of Gilot, including paintings and photographs, was shown. "After all, she only lived with the artist for 10 years out of her 100 years," Snerch said.
Portrait of Françoise Gilot, 91, taken during an interview in 2012. Photo: Vogue
Françoise Gilot (1921-2023) came from a wealthy French family, her father was a businessman, her mother was a watercolorist. Gilot was oriented by her father to study law but soon gave it up because of her passion for painting. She first met Picasso at the age of 21 when he was already a famous painter at the age of 61. Gilot gave birth to a son and a daughter during their 10 years together.
In 1953, Françoise Gilot decided to leave the artist because she could no longer stand his personality. She took her two children, Claude and Pamela, and left. The Washington Post described their relationship as a stormy affair, saying that Gilot was the only woman who "dared to abandon" Picasso among the women who loved him.
Françoise Gilot, 31, stands next to Picasso, 71, in 1952. Photo: TopFoto
The war between Françoise Gilot and Picasso intensified when she published her memoir Life with Picasso in 1964, according to the Guardian. In the book, she said Picasso thought that no one liked her work, people were just curious about her love affair with the famous artist. He destroyed everything that belonged to his former lover, including paintings, books and letters sent to her by Matisse (Gilot's favorite artist, also Picasso's confidant). The famous artist hooked up with the elite, demanding that the Louise Leiris gallery stop showing Gilot's paintings and not let her attend the Salon de Mai art festival.
Picasso sued Gilot three times to prevent her from publishing her memoirs. Influenced by the artist, 80 French intellectuals and artists at the time petitioned to ban the book in Les Lettres Françaises. Nevertheless, Life with Picasso sold a million copies and was translated into 16 languages, becoming the artist's best-selling work.
Didier Ottinger, director of the Pompidou Centre, told the Guardian that Françoise Gilot had compared the boycott in her home country to being stripped of her citizenship. The newspaper said Gilot had lost many relationships and business deals as a result, including a contract to design sets for the Champs Elysées theatre.
In 1970, Françoise Gilot came to the United States to continue her artistic career and achieved much success. She followed the Cubist and Fauvist schools, using free colors and combining many shapes. Currently, Gilot's works are sold for hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, appearing in many auctions and major exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).
>>> Some works by Françoise Gilot
Françoise Gilot painted her daughter Paloma Picasso in "Paloma à la Guitare" (1965), which sold for $1.3 million in 2021. Photo: Sotheby's
After her divorce from Picasso, she remarried the artist Luc Simon from 1955 to 1965, and had a daughter. Gilot married Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, in 1955, and they lived together until his death in 1995. Françoise Gilot died in June 2023 of heart and lung disease, at the age of 101.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a Spanish painter and sculptor. He was one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. Picasso became famous with paintings such as Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Portrait of Aunt Pepa . Some of his works are on the list of the most expensive works of art in the world. In addition, Picasso's love life also attracted attention when most of the women he was with were unhappy.
Phuong Thao (according to Guardian, Artnet )
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