Françoise Gilot is a French cubist painter, she was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a commune in France in 1921. Today she is still alive and painting at age ninety-nine! Gilot’s father was a strict businessman while her mother was a watercolour painter. At a young age Gilot knew she wanted to be a painter, but her father was against this notion and pushed her into law. She started law school in her late teens. Gilot then dropped out when the Germans invaded Paris for security reasons but also to follow her true passion in art. Gilot met Picasso in a café in 1943, she was twenty-one while he was in his sixties. They started an affair that lasted ten years and had two children. But Picasso grew to be tyrannical and abusive, so Gilot chose to end it. She was notably his only mistress to be the one to walk away from him, in retaliation Picasso drove her out of France by badmouthing her to the whole industry. To escape Picasso’s influence, she moved to America and ever since has enjoyed a successful career and life.
Gilot’s art is bold and confident, much like the artist herself. She tends to gravitate making primary colours the star of the show. Many ask her if Picasso was her main influence, but she has asserted that she only studied his art as much as any other painter at the time. If anything, meeting Picasso made her retract into her own style. Picasso’s biographer John Richardson has corroborated this saying: “Picasso took from her rather more than she took from him.”.
My favourite piece of hers is this portrait. I’m drawn to her use of contrasting blue and yellow, the added square patterns is also very eye catching and interesting.
References
© Boris Lipnitzki / Studio Lipnitzki / Roger-Viollet. (2020, October 9). At home with Françoise Gilot. Curbed. Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https://www.curbed.com/2020/10/inside-artist-franoise-gilots-apartment-and-art-studio.html.
Françoise Gilot. Artnet.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2021, from http://www.artnet.com/artists/fran%C3%A7oise-gilot/.
Guardian News and Media. (2016, June 10). ‘it was not a sentimental love’: Françoise gilot on her years with Picasso. The Guardian. Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jun/10/francoise-gilot-artist-love-picasso.
Emma,
Excellent post on Gilot! I’m loath to admit this, but I was unaware she was a painter as well. I only knew her as one of Picasso’s mistresses. I’m really glad you chose someone like her to post on as I absolutely learned something new. Picasso was a monster when it came to women.
Also your PK presentation on Bazille was pretty good. You had a nice delivery but talked a bit fast which is understandable with someone who probably hasn’t had much experience with public speaking. That said I’m giving you an 8/10 for the PK and a 2/2 for the latest blog. Well Done!
Jeff