Rue-Saint-Augustine
Life with Picasso- by Françoise Gilot
Thursday, September 4th, 2008 | Book Reviews | 2 Comments
Picasso`s life has been accompanied by several women – one of them was Françoise Gilot.
She differed from her forerunners, as it turned out, in many ways. She spent ten years at the side of the famous artist and could study his works and personality more precisely than anybody else. Living, working and having two children with Picasso – a life which had a strong influence on her own personality and led eventually to the breakup between them.
With just 21 years Gilot met Picasso (62) at a cafe in Paris. Not long before their acquaintance she decided, against her father`s plans, for a life as a paintress and moved to her grandma`s house. In her youthful inexperience and her admiration of Picasso`s art she fell in love with him, ready to devote to him all her time and attention. Pablo has been fascinated by her intelligence and erudition and not at least by her devotion.
At the beginning, their relationship was characterized by almost philosophical nightlong discussions about art. His possessive manner pushed Françoise to isolate even from her beloved grandma, when she moved to Picasso`s studio in the Rue-Grand-Augustine. From now on she got to know him as a quite capricious, jealous sometimes soft but often crude character. Everybody in the household – the butler Sabartés, the maid Ines, the chauffeur Marcel – had to obey him without any contradiction. When he fired Marcel after 25 years or debased Sabartés, he didn`t bat an eyelid. His attitude related to women he verbalized like this: “There are two categories of women – door scraper and goddesses”.
Those extremes between good and bad as well as his own complete devotion to his art paraphrased his nature. Usually Picasso worked from the early afternoon until late evening every day. He worked and experimented with several kinds of materials – ceramics, tone, glazing, garbage- and produced with his perfectionist and prolific manner a great artistic legacy. Himself he described his work as something, that should and could “touch” everybody not only the “happy few“. His art would be the same as the work of Moliere or Shakespeare – open to the public, “burlesque and sometimes even vulgar” (see Demoiselles d `Avignon). 
Françoise understood the importance and the weight of Picasso`s work for the Modern Art and developed her own painting at the same time, certainly influenced by Pablo.
After the birth of their first child Claude and the longish stay at the Côte d’Azur, where Pablo`s ex-wife Olga Khlokhova daily observed and pursued them, feelings of doubt and concern mixed up with jealousy troubled their relationship for the first time. The birth of Paloma worsened the difficult situation. The past wasn`t still cut off and Pablo seemed to be even amused about the persistent conflicts between Olga, Dora, Marie-Therese and Françoise.
The physical exhaustion and the daily duties as well as the absent assistance from Pablo, who didn`t want to be disturbed from working, stressed their relationship. The family assumed an ever larger part of their life, and that was it, what Pablo couldn`t and wouldn`t never cope with. There was no feeling of security and heartiness. Pablo`s coolness was the answer to her long-years of devotion.
More and more he withdrew from the “annoying” family. From now on he travelled often alone and stood for weeks, sending just short telegrams given up by Sabartés. Reluctant but self-confident, making no claims Françoise clearly differed from Olga and Dora with their flashy and demanding manners. Conscious of his fame, Pablo got used to their and also other´s admiration. Her wish to a breakup has been something unforgivable and absolute unbelievable. She seemed to be the winner and he the loser of this long battle which he has been fighting all the time being in a relationship with a women worth him.
He did never forgave her. She did never see him again.
Without reading this fascinating autobiography about her life at Picasso`s side, it`s hardly possible to understand the depth and the sense of his work. Her own full admiration of Pablo and the sensitive understanding of his work give their relationship a very special degree of fulfillment for both of them. Their breakup is bound to happen due to Picasso`s strong, stubborn and adamant character. Gilot allows a very deep and touching insight into one short period of Picasso`s life from an unconventional perspective.