Marie Françoise Gilot is a painter, graphic artist and writer. Fame came to her after the publication of her autobiography "My Life with Picasso" describing the relationship with the famous master.
Marie Françoise's mother, Madeleine Renaud, was a talented artist. Father Emile Zhilot was a successful businessman.
Difficult path to art
The girl was born at the end of November 1921 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The father was distinguished by a very authoritarian character. He made the girl cut her hair short, wear trousers, turning her into a boy. When it turned out that Marie was left-handed, the head of the family retrained his daughter to write with his right hand. As a result, Zhilo perfectly learned to master both.
Dad followed his daughter's studies strictly, demanded success in sports. With all the fears of the girl, he fought with his own methods. Afraid of the water, Marie was forced to sail on a sailing yacht, thrown into the water and forced to sail further. She was afraid of heights - she was taken to the mountains and forced to jump off the rocks. The father's anger frightened the daughter more than his fears.
Once the girl met a stranger at her grandmother, who charmed her. It was the famous artist Emile Mare. The five-year-old girl decided to become an artist. The mother began to teach her daughter to draw.
At ten, Gilot entered an art school. At seventeen she arranged her first exhibition with her grandmother. However, her father dreamed of her education in the field of international law. For two years, Françoise studied at the Sorbonne, studied English literature and law. Any sciences were given to her without difficulty.
Everything was more complicated with art. Marie had to prove the right to her favorite activity. A written statement of his desire led to threats. Grandmother stood up for her granddaughter. Françoise still managed to insist on her own. She started out as an abstract artist. Later she took up graphics and lithography, excelled in aquatint.
Fateful meeting
In 1938 she opened her first workshop in Paris at the home of Anna Renaud, her grandmother. The insert in 1943 was also successful. At the same time, an acquaintance with Picasso took place. Françoise was twenty-one. The meeting took place in a cafe. Picasso sat down with Zhilo with a friend. The painter invited the girl to the studio. However, the artist did not suspect that the girl in front of him was not fragile and ready for anything. The confrontation with her father hardened Marie and made her fearless.
The relationship was more like a duel than a romance. Picasso had to conquer the chosen one for a long time. She appreciated independence, knew how to restrain herself. Having understood everything, the great artist agreed that pressure would not help. He tamed a fan and succeeded in it.
Together, the artists began to live in Vallauris in 1948. In 1946, a series of portraits of Gilot was painted. Picasso called his muse a flower woman. Several times Françoise tried to leave, but the painter returned her. In character, the great master strongly resembled Marie's father. Meeting with him became a tragedy for many of his chosen ones.
The children Claude and Paloma appeared. Children have not made life easier. Pablo's character turned out to be difficult. He did not understand why Marie was so reluctant to obey. Taking the children, Gilot left Picasso in 1953.
She became the only one who left him on her own. The woman did not arrange tragedies and did not try to attract attention to herself. She left to live and create. Common friends with Picasso stopped communicating with her.
Life goes on
Gradually, Marie was improving her life. She was engaged in creativity, freed herself from the influence of the great master on life and work. There were also new acquaintances in the art world.
In 1955, Françoise found happiness with Luc Simon. A child, daughter Aurelia, was born in a family with a painter. The couple made the decision to leave in 1962. The ex-wife's relationship remained friendly. Françoise was asked several times to write a memoir about her life with the great painter. However, Pablo did his best to prevent publication.
The first place for Zhilot was given to work. She set a strict schedule. Three days were allotted to writing canvases, three days to working on a book. The critic Lake helped her in writing. For six months, the memoirs were at the top of sales.
In the end, the work "My Life with Picasso" was created. They described both the work of the painter and his uneasy relationship with his companions. After the book was published in America, communication between the father and the children completely ceased.
English Picasso did not know. And he did not read the work itself. He was outraged by the very fact of publication. However, Françoise was grateful to him for interrupting communication, because that is why she managed to start doing what she loved again and become a famous painter.
Summarizing
The Tate Gallery in London has provided the artist with a personal workshop in the Chelsea area. In 1970, Marie Françoise again tried to establish her personal life. This time she became the wife of virologist Jonas Salk, the discoverer of the polio vaccine.
A film was made based on Zhilot's book. It was called "Survive with Picasso." Anthony Hopkins and Natasha Mac Elhoun played the main roles in it. The work was not created in the genre of a book of complaints at all.
The author spoke about the difficult life with a genius with all his weaknesses, described the artist's working methods, his social circle, the process of creating masterpieces by him. However, both readers and critics unanimously call Françoise's story about herself the most beautiful moment.
Of almost ten decades, Françoise spent only one dozen with Picasso. But this period was not the only reason to talk about it. The only one of all the friends of the great painter Zhilot left herself. She managed to take place in art and life, raise children and write a book.
