Exhibition of works by Françoise Gilot opened in Hong Kong for her 100th anniversary
An exhibition of Françoise Gilot, the muse and beloved of Pablo Picasso, who gave birth to two children to the great artist, has opened in Hong Kong. Unlike other women of Picasso, Zhilot herself was – and remains – a serious creative nature, indefatigable and distinctive in art, although, of course, she was influenced by her first spouse. Françoise recently turned 100 years old. “At my age, I sometimes get tired of life,” she said at the opening, “but I never get tired of drawing.” One of these days, the artist’s works will be auctioned off.
Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot met in occupied Paris in 1943 – she was 22, and he was 62. Just then Françoise arranged the first exhibition of her works, and Pablo was going through a difficult romance with Dora Maar, which was coming to an end. Picasso fell in love with a young talented beauty, a couple of years later they had two children – Claude and Paloma.
In 1953, Françoise left the artist, and two years later she married the artist Luc Simon, and later, in 1970, the virologist Jonas Sokla, who discovered the polio vaccine. But this is another story, which is rarely remembered, more and more talk about the autobiographical book “My Life with Picasso”, which was published in 1964. She formed the basis for many films about the artist.
It was not easy for Françoise to get out of the shadow of Picasso, but still her life did not end with parting with the renowned artist. She began an independent life in the art world, her works were included in the permanent collections of museums around the world, there are several works in Russia, for example, in the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.
But every time Gilot has to prove his identity, which is not so easy. Moreover, her style is close to that of her ex-husband. This can be seen by watching Gilot’s solo exhibition at the Hong Kong Exhibition Center (available online), which features over 30 works from the artist’s entire career. 11 of them will be sold at auction.
Evaluation of the works, however, is kept secret. Among them is a self-portrait and the work “White Cloud”, which depicts a dove of peace – one of the most recognizable symbols that Picasso first painted in 1949 for the 1st World Peace Congress in Paris.
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