Explained: The life of Françoise Gilot, the woman who loved and left Pablo Picasso

Françoise Gilot, a renowned painter whose own artistic achievements were often overshadowed by her tumultuous relationship with Pablo Picasso, has passed away at the age of 101.

As per the New York Times, her daughter, Aurelia Engel, confirmed her death, citing recent health issues related to her heart and lungs.

Gilot was a talented painter and memoirist in her own right, but she is best known for being Picasso's lover and for being the only one of his mistresses to walk out on him.

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In 1953, after nearly a decade together, Gilot made the decision to leave Picasso, which surprised him greatly. The two had a 40-year age difference. Here's all you need to know about the life ofMarieFrançoise Gilot, the only woman to "dump" Pablo Picasso.

Picasso and the women that loved him

Picasso had two wives and many mistresses. However, Françoise Gilot is the only woman to ever break up with him. The decision reportedly surprised Picasso, who believed that people would only be interested in her because of her connection to him.

Gilot had earlier shared a conversation she had with Picasso. She recalled him, asking her: "You imagine people will be interested in you?".

"They won’t ever, really, just for yourself. Even if you think people like you, it will only be a kind of curiosity they will have about a person whose life touched mine so intimately," said the famous painter as per Gilot.

However, Gilot proved him wrong by rebuilding her life independently. She continued to paint, exhibit her artwork, and write books.

Françoise Gilot’s life after Picasso

In 1970, Gilot married Jonas Salk, the American medical researcher who developed the first safe polio vaccine.

While her relationship with Picasso was what made her famous in the public eye, particularly after the publication of her memoir "Life with Picasso" in 1964. The book became an international bestseller and was adapted into a film: the 1996 Merchant-Ivory movie, titled 'Surviving Picasso.' In the movie, Gilot was played by Natascha McElhone, while Anthony Hopkins portrayed Picasso.

Gilot's artwork also gained recognition. Her paintings were featured in numerous museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Over the years, her artwork commanded increasingly higher prices, even into her later years.

In June 2021, her painting titled "Paloma à la Guitare" (1965), sold for $1.3 million in an online auction by Sotheby auction house.

Françoise Gilot's commitment to her art existed long before her involvement with Picasso, Lisa Stevenson, the head of curated sales for Sotheby’s in London, told ARTnews after the auction.

"It isn’t commonly known that Gilot’s commitment to art was present long before her relationship with Pablo Picasso, and she was sadly often left in his shadow."

However, she often lived in his shadow, despite her own talent and accomplishments.

In 2022, while contributing to her profile in NYT, she told the publication: "I am not going to make a big deal of being more than what I am — or less."

Life before Picasso

On November 26, 1921, Marie Françoise Gilot was born into a wealthy family in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris. Gilot showed an early interest in art and received guidance from her mother Madeleine Renoult-Gilot, who had studied art history, ceramics and watercolour painting.

Despite her father Emile Gilot's objections, she pursued her passion for art and studied at various institutions.

Relationship with Picasso

As described in her book 'Life with Picasso',Gilot's encounter with Picasso in 1943 was accidental.

Françoise Gilot was dining with her closest friend, Geneviève Aliquot, and an actor named Alain Cuny at Le Catalan, a small restaurant on the rue des Grands-Augustins, near Picasso's Left Bank studio, when she had her first accidental encounter with Picasso in May 1943.

That accidental encounter marked the beginning of a tumultuous relationship. She became his lover despite the presence of other women in his life.

They had two children together, Claude and Paloma. However, their relationship was marked by Picasso's infidelity, and Gilot ultimately made the decision to leave him.

"No woman leaves a man like me," Picasso said upon hearing about the breakup, according to Gilot's account in 'Life With Picasso'.

"I told him maybe that was the way it looked to him, but I was one woman who would, and was about to. A man as famous and as rich as he? He couldn't believe it, he said," she wrote.

"Life with Picasso" caused a rift between Gilot and Picasso, with the artist cutting off all contact with her and their two children.

In 1955, she married her childhood friend, Luc Simon, a French artist, they had a daughter together: Aurelia. The marriage ended in divorce in 1962.

After her marriage to Jonas Salk and Picasso's death in 1973, Gilot continued to focus on her own artistic career, exhibiting her work and publishing books. She lived in Manhattan and maintained a studio in Paris, consistently producing art and holding exhibitions until 2021.

(With inputs from agencies)

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