BLUE PERIOD
So often was Françoise Gilot discussed in the context of her decade as Picasso’s muse that her accomplishments as a painter in her own right can get lost in the mix. But accomplished she was. She was already on the rise in art circles when the 21-year-old Gilot met a forty-years-older Picasso. Picasso’s cubism influenced her, but she developed her own identity as an artist with a more organic style in contrast to Picasso’s angular approach. Her works are exhibited in the Met and MoMA, and in her centennial year multiple pieces sold for over a million dollars.
Picasso’s dodgy relationship with women is well documented – he is reported to have said “For me there are only two kinds of women: goddesses and doormats.” Most of his relationships ended at his volition; two of his lovers committed suicide. Gilot stood alone in walking out on her own initiative. She told her story in 1964 bestseller “Life with Picasso”, released despite Picasso’s attempts to halt it. Gilot’s portrait of their decade together had sympathetic streaks – she respectfully praised his genius and noted him being caring towards their children at the time – but the overarching theme was of Picasso as a Bluebeard who stifled Gilot’s own career, and that she needed to leave before she was destroyed.
Picasso exerted his influence to further impede Gilot’s career once she left: his refusal to display his artwork in galleries that also hosted hers meant there were few Gilot exhibitions in Picasso’s lifetime. Gilot and Picasso were never married; she married twice afterwards. The second was to Dr. Jonas Salk of all people, in a 25-year-union that succeeded largely because Gilot ensured she was given the breathing room to pursue her creative endeavours. Critical recognition for Gilot took time and diligence, but she never stopped painting or experimenting and lit up in interviews well into her old age. She was 101, and frankly one of the greatest “WTF still alive” picks of 2020s deadpooling. Four teams picked her, including art and France focal theme teams.
Françoise Gilot
26 November 1921 – 6 June 2023, aged 101
4 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀 4 POINTS)