Françoise Gilot

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Françoise Gilot (born 1921) is known as a companion of Picasso between 1944 and 1953. She was raised in Paris by her father, a businessman, and her mother, a watercolorist. While training as a lawyer, Gilot was known to skip morning law classes to feed her true passion: art. Despite her mother being an artist herself, the extent of the young woman's artistic pursuits inexplicably drove her away from immediate family to her grandmother's attic. At 21, Gilot met Picasso (then 61) and would ultimately raise both their children: Claude and Paloma. The children's antics were often captured on the canvases of their parents. Gilot maintained a relationship with the Spanish painter from 1944 until 1953. Eleven years after their separation Gilot wrote Life with Picasso, a book that sold over one million copies in dozens of languages.

In 1969 Gilot was introduced to Jonas Salk, the polio vaccine pioneer, at the home of mutual friends in La Jolla, CA. Their shared appreciation of architecture led to a brief courtship and they were married in 1970 in Paris. Gilot remained married to Dr. Salk until his death in 1995 and during her marriage she continued painting in New York, California, and Paris. At 85, Gilot's vibrant, colorful art continues to reflect her thoughts on nature, time, symbols and signs.