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Françoise Gilot, an acclaimed painter who produced art for more than half a century but was better known for her turbulent relationship with Pablo Picasso — and for leaving him — died Tuesday in New York City at the age of 101.
Gilot’s daughter, Aurelia Engel, told The Associated Press that her mother died at Mount Sinai West Hospital after lung and heart problems.
“She was an exceptionally talented artist and we will work on her legacy and the incredible paintings and works she leaves us,” said Engel.
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Artist Françoise Gilot poses with her work at a personal art exhibition in Milan, December 21, 1965. (AP photo, file)
Gilot met Picasso, who was 61 at the time, in 1943 when she was only 21. The couple had two children together, Claude and Paloma Picasso, before she shockingly left him in 1953.
“He never saw it coming,” Engel said. “She was there because she loved him and because she really believed in that incredible passion for art that they both shared. (But) she came as a free, though very, very young, but very independent person.”
“She was an exceptionally talented artist.”
Gilot at age 94 told the Guardian she left Picasso “of her own free will”.
“I had been there of my own will and left of my own will,” she told the outlet. “I told him that once, before I left. I said, ‘Watch out, because I came when I wanted, but I’ll leave when I want.’ He said, “No one leaves a man like me.” I said, ‘We’ll see.'”
Artist Françoise Gilot appears during an interview with Reginald Bosanquet in London on March 3, 1965, in connection with the publication of her book ‘My Life With Picasso’. (AP Photo/Bob Dear)
Pablo Picasso poses for a photo in his studio in Paris. (Bettmann / employee)
In 1964, Gilot published a telling book, entitled “Life with Picasso”, in which she describes her tumultuous relationship with the famous artist. An angry Picasso unsuccessfully tried to ban its publication.
“He attacked her in court and lost three times,” Engel recalls. “After the third defeat, he called her and congratulated. He fought it, but at the same time I think he was proud to be with a woman who had as much guts as he did.”
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Her life with Picasso was also illustrated in the 1996 movie “Surviving Picasso”.
Gilot remarried twice – first to artist Luc Simon and then to American virologist Dr. Jonas Salk, who is famous for his work with the polio vaccine. He died in 1995.
Dr. Jonas Salk, right, developer of the polio vaccine, and artist Francoise Gilot appear after their civil wedding at the Town Hall of Paris Neuilly on June 30, 1970. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours)
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Gilot was born on November 26, 1921 in Neuilly-sur-Seine in a suburb of Paris. She was an only child.
“She knew at the age of five that she wanted to be a painter,” said Engel.
However, her parents wanted her to study law. Gilot finally started showing her work in 1943 – the same year she met Picasso and their unforgettable romance began.
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“I was 21 and I felt like painting was all my life,” Gilot wrote in “Life With Picasso.”
She added that when Picasso asked her and a friend what they did, the friend said they were painters. Picasso is said to have responded with, “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day. Girls who look like that can’t be painters.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a writer on Fox News Digital’s breaking news team. You can reach her on Twitter at @s_rumpfwhiteten.
