Françoise Gilot, Untitled Face, 1951

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Francois Gilot, (1921-) studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and then, encouraged by her father, studied international law, though she … Read more Francois Gilot, (1921-) studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and then, encouraged by her father, studied international law, though she secretly also took art lessons at the same time. In 1943, during her first exhibition in Paris, Gilot (then 21) met Pablo Picasso (who was 61) for the first time. In 1946, Gilot started a 10-year relationship with the notorious womanizer and had two of his children,Claude and Paloma. As a result of her relationship with Picasso, Gilot "became both a witness and a participant in one of the last great periods of the modern art movement in Europe. Their circle included poets, philosophers, writers, and many of the legends of the art world, such as Braque, Chagall, Cocteau and Matisse. In 1953, Gilot left Picasso and the home they shared in Vallauris and moved back to Paris. "Lithographs are printed from stones and each stone is an echo of my artistic voice," said Gilot. "Many artists use their art as a personal catharsis. I have never done that. I am more intellectual. Each artistic process -- oils, lithographs, monotypes -- allows me a different freedom and suits a different mood." While Gilot did her first lithograph in 1950 at the Mourlot Atelier, the same studio used by Picasso, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Jean Miro and Jean Dubuffet, it was in the 1970s that she really began to experiment with the process. "In the beginning I turned to lithography because I wanted to show off my technical skills. Now I am more interested in color," said Gilot. "I also thought that lithographs would make my works more accessible to young collectors." While her oils are priced up to $100,000, her lithographs begin at $2,000 and her monotypes range from $1,000 to $2,500. HONORS Officier de la Legion d'Honneur, Presidence de la Republique, France Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, Ministere de la Culture, France SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Musee d'Art Moderne, Paris Musee Picasso, Antibes, France National Acadamy of Design, New York Musee de Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel Museum of Modern Art, New York Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (complete collection of original prints) SELECTED IMPORTANT EXHIBITION CATALOGUES 2012 Françoise Gilot, Paris - Vallauris, 1943 - 1953, The Gagosian Gallery, New York Essays: John Richardson, Françoise Gilot, Charles Stuckey and Michael Cory 2011 Françoise Gilot, at 90, Drawings 1941 - 2010, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany Essays: Françoise Gilot and Louise Tolliver Deutschman (exhibition curator) 2006 Françoise Gilot, Portraits From a Life, The Elkon Gallery Inc., New York 2003 Françoise Gilot Painting - Malerei, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany Edited: Ingrid Mössinger, Director, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz and Beate L. Ritter Essays: Françoise Gilot Evelyn Weiss, former Assistant Director, Museum Lugwig, Germany 2000 Françoise Gilot, Galerie Larock-Granoff, Paris Essay: James Lord 1998 Françoise Gilot, The Early Years: 1940-1955, The Elkon Gallery, Inc., New York Preface: Dina Vierny DIRECTORSHIPS 1972-1977 Art Director, Virginia Woolf Quarterly, San Diego, California See less