My life with Picasso

by Françoise Gilot

Francoise Gilot was a young painter in Paris when she first met Picasso - he was sixty-two and she was twenty-one. During the following ten years they were lovers, worked closely together and she became mother to two of his children, Claude and Paloma. Life with Picasso, her account of those extraordinary years, is filled with intimate and astonishing revelations about the man, his work, his thoughts and his friends - Matisse, Braque, Gertrude Stein and Giacometti, among others. Francois Gilot paints a compelling portrait of her turbulent life with the temperamental (and even abusive) genius that was Picasso. As one of the few intimate witnesses to Picasso as a human being and as an artist, her account of him is invaluable for assessing him on both counts.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, France, Art History, Biography Memoir

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Françoise Gilot is a French painter, critic, and author. In 1973 Gilot was appointed as the Art Director of the scholarly journal Virginia Woolf Quarterly. In 1976 she was made a member of the board of the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California. She held summer courses there and took on organizational responsibilities until 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s she designed costumes, stage sets, and masks for productions at the Guggenheim in New York. She was awarded a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, in 1990.

She is also known as the lover and artistic muse of Pablo Picasso from 1943 to 1953; the pair had two children, Claude (1947-2023) and Paloma (1949-). She later married the American vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk.

She passed away June 6, 2023 in Manhattan (New York).

Reviews

[Tony]

Françoise Gilot is an accomplished writer and artist, and had a whirlwind life in demarcated (by men) stages. And, if you don't mind me saying, is a pretty good-looking 97 year-old. But this is about her time with Picasso, as his lover, the mother of two of his children, and as someone intertwined with his work.

One wonders how she put up with Picasso, or why.

There was a moment when their mutual attraction is ready to bloom. So he gets a cigarette and pushes the lit end to her face. She does not flinch. It is then she moves in.

It was fascinating reading, but understood as memoir, neither fact not fiction. The internet allowed me to fill in the blanks, especially the paintings.

Françoise Gilot had a special perch though. And she had a remarkable ear and memory.

So, here, through her, is the wit and wisdom of Pablo Picasso:

-- There are two professions whose practitioners are never satisfied with what they do: dentists and photographers. Every dentist would like to be a doctor and every photographer would like to be a painter.

-- Anything of great value--creation, a new idea--carries its shadow zone with it. You have to accept it that way. Otherwise there is only the stagnation of inaction. But every action has an implicit share of negativity. There is no escaping it. Every positive value has its price in negative terms and you never see anything very great which is not, at the same time horrible in some respect. The genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima.

-- The best prescription for a discontented female is to have a child.

-- (Of his daughter): She'll be the perfect woman. Passive and submissive. That's the way all girls should be.

-- I'd rather see a woman die, any day, than to see her happy with someone else.

So, that's who he was. I believe that. But at that cigarette, so did Françoise.

[Caddy Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never had it take me so long to finish a book that I really loved, but life has been crazy. I finally finished yesterday and found this book to be an intriguing, fascinating, and revealing book about one of the greatest artists of all time.

Being a painter myself, I have always admired Picasso and he had always been the one person who is dead that I longed to meet. To have spent time with him painting would have been wonderful.

Or so I thought. I had heard that he was an asshat, but this book reveals that he was a TOTAL ASSHAT. Now, there is no question that he was a fabulous painter. I still admire his work more than any other, except perhaps Braque rates right up there with him. But as a person, he was not fabulous at all.

This book was written by Francoise Gilot, his mistress of ten years. She was the only woman to leave Picasso. Usually he did the leaving. She also bore him two children: Claude and Paloma. That she stayed 10 years makes me think less of her. She was an enabler and, in many ways, a doormat.

Picasso was emotionally cruel and abusive to all the women in his life. He criticized, belittled, and blamed them for everything that went wrong during a day, even if they weren't in the room. He was also manipulative to his friends. He treated them poorly quite often and always was figuring out ways to one-up them. It seems he was a very insecure man, and I would have to say he seemed mentally ill in many ways.

There was nothing more he liked to do than spread mean gossip or make people feel guilty that they didn't treat him well enough. It even took an hour to get him out of bed every day. He would lie there and complain about how bad life was, how badly he was treated, how his painting sucked...and she would have to counter it, cajoling him into getting up. I would have just told him to stay in bed and walked out to paint myself. He loved to use people that way.

I would say that he acted like a two-year-old but that would denigrate most two-year olds. Many artists have been know as being hard to live with, but he truly took it to a level that was downright cruelty. I know this much: Had I spent time with him as a woman, within one or two days I would have slapped him so hard he would have permanently been seeing the whole world as cubism.

This makes it sound like I hated the book. I didn't. I loved it's honesty and it was fascinating. It also wasn't written spitefully. She mentions many times how much she loved him. It was just an honest recalling of his statements, his treatment of others, and their life in general. The way he looked at women was appalling.I appreciated seeing him as he really was. I also enjoyed reading about his various creative pursuits, from painting to ceramics and other things.

She quoted him a lot and from that I also learned how he approached painting and cubism. It wasn't a step by step guide or instructions, but the insight helped me tremendously. It is hard to find someone who can teach cubism and there aren't many books about how to do it. I was at an impasse for years, frustrated that I hadn't broken through. Shortly after reading part of this book I did my best painting to date.

The book dragged a little during the lithography parts, as I have little interest in that, but that is a personal taste. All in all, it was an outstanding portrait of one of the greatest artists and one of the poorest examples of a human being. I will refer to it many times because of his wonderful insights and quotes about painting and art. It is invaluable to me because of that. I guess one of his own quotes sums him up best: "Everybody has the same energy potential. The average person wastes his in a dozen little ways. I bring mine to bear on one thing only; my paintings, and everything is sacrificed to it - you and everyone else, myself included."

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiercely candid but even-handed portrait of Picasso, but the real hero of this book is Gilot herself. Despite all of his manipulations, Gilot provides a detailed insider's view of a great artist at work. And perhaps even more moving is the story of a young woman commiitted to her own art, even in the presence of a such a giant figure i 20th c. art (and a giant ass in his personal life).

[Molly Sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its so heartbreaking to know that brilliant women have been putting up with fuckboys for so long.

[The Literary Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Woman Who Said No. Told with humor and camera-like recall, Gilot paints a realistic portrait of what it was like to live with a genius of a creator and destroyer. And to survive it.

[Fereshteh · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب در واقع اتوبیوگرافی فرانسوا ژیلو ، معشوقه ی پیکاسوست از مدت ده سالی که با پیکاسو زندگی می کرده...این کتاب یازده سال بعد از جدایی این دو به چاپ رسید و علی رغم همه تلاش های پیکاسو برای جلوگیری از توزیعش به چندین زبان ترجمه شد و به فروش بالایی رسید
پیکاسو بعد از انتشار این کتاب، هرگز دو فرزندی که از فرانسوا داشت رو ملاقات نکرد

وقتی کتاب رو میخوندم به نظرم اومد که شامل دو قسمت میشه.جایی که ژیلو از زندگی خصوصیشون، طرز برخورد، رفتار، باورها و عقاید پیکاسو صحبت میکنه که در نوع خودش خیلی برای همه می تونه جالب باشه

و قسمتی که از زیر و بم نقاشی و مجسمه سازی پیکاسو صحبت میکنه.به نظرم به دلیل نقاش بودن ژیلو این قسمت حداقل از نظر من تخصصی شده بود و برای من خیلی مفهوم نبود و دقیقن به همین دلیل از ستاره دادن به این کتاب عاجزم



پاریس اون زمان کلی ادم معروف و مهم داشت که با پیکاسو معاشرت داشتند البته متاسفانه خانم گلستان به عنوان مترجم از اوردن حتی یک کلمه توضیح راجع به هریک از این شخصیت های برجسته خودداری کرده که کمی ازاردهنده س.ولی خوندن راجع به پاریس اون زمان در این کتاب می تونه جالب باشه.کتاب اون قدر جالب بود که بیشتر برای من نقش محرکی رو ایفا کرد تا از پیکاسو بیشتر بخونم، ببینم و بدونم

پرتره ی فرانسوا ژیلو اثر پابلو پیکاسو

[Amir · Rating 4 out of 5]

تصادف جالبی بود که موقع خوندن همان عشق یان آندره‌آ این کتاب رو دیدم و گرفتم. همان عشق حکایت سال‌هایی هست که یان آندره‌آی جوان با مارگارت دوراس گذرونده و این کتاب هم از سال‌های زندگی فرانسواز ژیلوی جوان میگه با پابلو پیکاسو. کتاب کتاب مهمی هست. اولا فرانسوا ژیلو با حافظه ی حیرت انگیز خودش جزئیاتی رو از زندگی با پیکاسو به خاطر میاره که گاهی آدم خیال می کنه که این ها رو داره از خودش در میاره. اما ژیلو با صراحت حتی از خاطراتی میگه که شاید نقل شدنش به ضرر خودش باشه. پس به نظر میشه اعتماد کرد به این حافظه‌ی حیرت‌انگیز. دوم این‌که کتاب پر هست از خاطرات آدم‌های مشهور و نیمه مشهور زمانه‌ی حیات پیکاسو که به نوعی باهاش دم‌خور بودن. پاریس اون سال‌ها آدم بزرگ کم نداشت. سوم این‌که توی زندگی پابلو پیکاسو زن‌های زیادی بودن که اومدن و از طرف پیکاسو ترک شدند. اما ژیلو تنها زنی هست که خودش پیکاسو رو رها کرده. حرف این زن شنیدنیه
.

[William Kuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved her accounts of meeting Matisse, Braque, Alice B Toklas, Gertrude Stein and others. I came away with the feeling that Picasso was a monster, not only to her, but to all his wives and girlfriends. (Secret confession: I have never liked Picasso's work either, though I see that he worked in many media and genres and was no doubt path-breaking. It doesn't appeal to me.)

[Ipsita Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

'I paint the way some people write their autobiography. The paintings, finished or not, are the pages of my journal, and as such they are valid. The future will choose the pages it prefers. It's not up to me to make the choice.'

This isn't just a biography of a revolutionary painter. For me, it's a stupendous account of a life partner from his other half's naked perspective. A particular life is usually the focal point of a biography. Here, two parallel lives meet and swim away toward the opposite shores. It's about a woman whose strength and broad perceptions win over a superstitious and irrational man's paroxysms. I think it was more of a love for art than for a person. Art brings two people together and when art no longer needed the ragged knot, it threw them far away.

If you're fond of Picasso's paintings, you'll have fun knowing the hidden stories behind the frames. What a wonderful artist he was! Yet such childlike discernment! In the end it's all about painting for him. He assimilated all the inspiration from his friends and wives and women and finally chucked the assemblage at the canvass. He painted life. Francoise painted the life of Picasso with words in this book.

[Jane LaFazio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed and it didn’t make me like Picasso as a person, but it was an excellent insight into his creative approach to art. I met Francoise, in the mid 1990s at someone else’s book signing and she was delightful and kind. (And her husband, Dr. Jonas Salk was compassionate and kind too, when we briefly spoke.) So, I’m fascinated by the author, and would love to read a bio of her life.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picasso for me has always been a legendary artist whose work flew way over my head - though visually it managed to capture my attention. After reading this memoir from his long-time girlfriend/de facto wife I learned that his art was intended to be bold enough to get me to pay attention so that I would then stop and think. Much like the young child who stomps his feet for attention feeling any is better than none, Picasso wanted to cause a stir, make you uncomfortable and even disturbed by what you saw - in his art and apparently in his life as well. Once he had your attention, there was much to be learned - for better or worse.

Gilot tells what another review here on Goodreads so aptly described as a detached tale of her time with Picasso. She escapes a violent and controlled life with her father to an inspired and liberated world with Picasso, or so it seems. Picasso is far older than herself or even her father for that matter. There is a 40 year age difference. He speaks often of wanting to keep her all to himself, stashed away in secret. The romanticized sound of this to a young Gilot is truly foreshadowing of the demanding and selfish world that it is to live with Picasso.

Gilot was an artist before she met Picasso and that connection is what held them together for so long. Her memories here are told from a very old soul - a young woman who gave of herself to someone she admired and learned from. Someone who tormented her but also was a source of pleasure. In the end, she was just another in his pattern of discarded partners. I feel she believed she meant something special to him - just as all of those before her and after felt as well. He clearly tormented her emotions and was a force that impacted her life ever after. But I do applaud her ability to include so many touching tales amongst the ones that depict him as monstrous emotionally. She was not innocent in her role as the other woman. And so I left this book feeling neither sorry for or happy for her. It was told very matter of factly and allowed me to project my own experiences and emotions onto the moments she chose to share.

There is plenty of fascinating insight into Picasso as an artist, his creative process, the inspirations and techniques that he employed. I appreciated these bits as much as I did watching the sad but predictable train wreck of a love story gone awry. I can now revisit his art with a larger base to draw from and give it greater time and curiosity - not because he has placed a temper tantrum on a canvas in order to get me to look beneath the layers but because innovative expression deserves a second look.

[reading is my hustle · Rating 5 out of 5]

i've wanted to read this forever. it's a fascinating insider’s view of a complicated artist. françoise gilot was a 21 year old painter when she met picasso. he was forty years her senior. she then spent ten turbulent years with him & bore two of his children. gilot was the only woman to leave picasso & it’s fascinating to read how she was intertwined with his art. she captures time & place well and her memory is remarkable; she describes interactions with picasso’s many friends: matisse, gertrude stein, giacometti, sartre, chagall, and others. she uses vivid language to describe how art brings the two of them together & how their approach to art and life informs their relationship. part of the experience of this book is looking up gilot’s paintings & learning the stories behind picasso’s well-known work. it is super difficult to read the ways picasso emotionally manipulated gilot and treated his inner circle. he was casually cruel, small minded, & petty. the value of his work is undeniable but he destroyed the women in his life & treated his inner circle in terrible ways. gilot somehow remains dispassionate in her telling of those parts of the story. it is hugely satisfying that she moves on and lives a successful & full life after she leaves him.

[Mahshid · Rating 4 out of 5]

پیکاسو همیشه در ذهنم به عنوان یک هنرمند فوق العاده بود و همواره هنر و خلاقیتش را تحسین کرده و خواهم کرد اما متاسفانه در زندگی شخصی آدم جالب و موفقی نبوده. کتاب زندگینامه فرانسوا ژیلو، معشوقه پیکاسو است که تقریبا ده سال با او زندگی کرد. کتاب بسیار جالبی بود در رابطه با زندگی شخصی و هنری پیکاسو و فرانسوا. در تمام کتاب فرانسوا به زیبایی مراحل خلق بسیاری از آثار پیکاسو و برخی از هنرمندان هم عصر او را تشریح می کنه که برام بسیار جذاب بود.

[Sepehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

امتیاز ۳.۵

قبل از هرچیز باید گفت که کتاب ارزش ادبی بالایی نداره چون کسی که این کتاب رو نوشته یک نویسنده حرفه‌ای نیست. صرفا یک سری خاطراتن که به صورت خطی تعریف میشن ولی ژیلوز خوب نوشته‌.
من خودم به زندگی پیکاسو و بطور کلی اون حلقه‌ی هنرمندان خاص پاریس خیلی علاقمند هستم و در این کتاب مدام به اسامی مشهور مختلفی برمیخوریم مثل گرترود استاین، مودیلیانی، سوتینی، آندره برتون، پل الوار، همینگوی و حتی آندره ژید.
نویسنده‌ی کتاب یعنی فرانسوا ژیلوز یک دختر بیست ساله عاشق نقاشی هست که با پیکاسوی شصت و خورده‌ای ساله آشنا و بلافاصله تبدیل به معشوقش میشه و وارد دنیای آنرمال پیکاسو میشه...
سرگذشت نامه پر فراز و نشیبی بود. درباره مسائل هنری و نظر شخصی پیکاسو درباره دیگر هنرمندان به خوبی توضیح داده بود و ترجمه هم عالی بود.
به دوستداران هنر پیشنهادش میکنم.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book. I'm sure my mother had this in the house when I was a child, the photograph/cover seems familiar (though not the goofy multi-colored title).
The book offers a lot of insight into the personality and dynamic of Picasso and some of his ideas and approaches to art. I thought I might get bored but I didn't -- it's very readable.
I especially enjoyed reading about Picasso's relationship with Matisse, and his (mostly negative/competitive) feelings about other painters. There are also many poets!
Picasso didn't want any other gods above him. He was narcissistic and manipulative. He was also unique and robustly creative and very driven.
To me, Francoise Gilot did the right thing in leaving him, though he punished her. It's not part of the book but she goes on later is life to (happily) marry Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine.

[Anastasiia Mozghova · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the most fascinating books i've read this year!

Gilot is a great storyteller, observant and attentive to details. she invites you into her inner personal and professional world, while also being extremely generous when it comes to Picasso's life and work. she carefully describes his approach to art, various methods he had used, art works she had seen him create.

one could expect Gilot to be bitter or brutal, but she is neither of those things. somehow she has managed to remain impressively objective despite being in the depth of it all. she is honest and straightforward. nevertheless, when the book came out, 40 artists and intellectuals, friends of Picasso, demanded it to be banned. luckily, it was not!

i encourage you to discover Gilot both as a writer and artist!

[Janet Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

How strange to read an account of this developing relationship slap bang in the middle of WWII. Of course life went on in occupied France. But it’s the absolute absorption with self that stands out so clearly. And in particular, Picasso’s!

Gilot’s account makes it clear, even as a blacklisted artist, that apart from some inconveniences and a lack of dealers willing to exhibit ‘degenerate art’, Picasso got on well enough in Nazi occupied Paris, still being visited and adored by fans and eager to notch up his youngest conquest to date.

Forty years her senior, about as old as the grandmother Gilot abandoned to go live with the great man, it’s hard to see what the attraction was. Grumpy too: “one day brilliant sunshine, the next day thunder and lightning”. And when she quotes Picasso saying “For me there are only two types of women – goddesses and doormats” then makes it clear that whenever he thought she got too close to feeling like a goddess he did his best to turn her into a doormat, you have to wonder why she didn’t up-sticks and go back to grannie there and then.

All things considered, when you read the rest of the book, you realize it would have saved her a world of grief.

[Samu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wtf mikä kakkapökäle.

[Dvora Treisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not much of an intellectual (although I enjoy their company) and certainly not when it comes to art. I've never been a Picasso fan, and yet artists always fascinate me. Gilot is a painter herself. She understood and could discuss art very well, and that was one of her most important attributes for Picasso. The parts of the book where she talked about the how and why of Picasso's painting and sculpture were the least interesting for me. But the rest -- his character, their friends, the war years, her feelings and perceptions, and their relationship, were all fascinating. I thought the last two sentences of the book a bit gratuitous, but what the heck.

[Lala Rustamli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointed and bored. Didn't know Picasso was that shallow or maybe writer wanted to portray him like that. Not surprised either. But the writer's motives are not clear: 22 year old woman, leaves her old grandmother to live with a man as old as her grandfather- Picasso. She is clearly not in love with him, she thinks that she was "special" because of Picasso's attention but Picasso's motives are plainly clear- to amuse himself with another young lady. She is supposed to be a painter, but she doesn't respect herself enough to protect his influence on her art. Another dumb story of old predator and gold digger, decorated with intellectualism and snobbiness.

[الزهراء الصلاحي · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب عبارة عن سيرة ذاتية بتحكى فيه فرانسواز جيلو حكايتها مع بابلو بيكاسو والذى التقته وهو فى الستين من عمره فتتحدث عنه بدقة وصراحة مذهلة فتصف بيكاسو بشخصيته الحقيقية عارياً من شهرته وتقلبات مزاجه وتناقض أهوائه والعنف والقلق الذى كان يتسم به ومع ذلك فقد أحبته وهى ما زالت فى عمر الواحد والعشرين وعاشت معه عشر سنوات وأنجبت منه طفلين.
الكتاب بسيط جدا ومشوق وكل ما بقرأ كتاب فى السير الذاتية بحبها أكتر وأكتر.

[Darta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pirmā Pikaso autobiogrāfija manā izlasīto grāmatu plauktā. Ārkārtīgi fascinējoša personība un lasāmviela. Ļoti daudz garu un detalizētu dialogu, kuros izteiktas Pablo idejas, domas par mākslu, sajūtas un attiecības ar tuvākajiem - atklāts un neko neslēpjošs stāsts.

[Jonathan Peto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I was in high school and enjoyed it, but I really don't remember if it was amazing or know if I would think that if I reread it.

But, I read in the newspaper today that the author is around 100 years old now and lives in New York. It mentioned that her paintings, some at least, sell in the millions, and that her work is in a lot of museums.

So, I'm not sure what to conclude. She was very young when she met Picasso when he was 61, and now that age gap is the same as the one between her and a 60 year old.

Maybe she could write a new and interesting afterward, if she hasn't already?

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Francois Gilot’s account of her life with Pablo Picasso makes for fascinating reading, especially looking back as we now do from the perspective of today’s Me Too movement. Brilliant artist though he was, Picasso was a serial user and abuser of women.

Gilot was 40 years younger than Picasso when they met and she allowed herself to be sucked into his orbit. Ten years and two children later, she finally worked up the nerve to leave him. An artist herself, they could communicate on a different level from past relationships for either of them. However, the expectation always was that she would meet his needs, never that he would be there for her.

Anyone with an interest in art history would enjoy this book because it references so many important artists and the way they approached their work. She also has a lot to say about the artistic process, Picasso’s development of new techniques and his explanations of what he is trying to communicate through his art.

The most amazing thing to me is her ability to quote long passages of dialog from memory. Because she often quotes Picasso telling her about people and events from earlier in his life, the time frame is broader than just their years together.

I decided to read this as a result of having watched the Genius TV series about Picasso. Many scenes in the show obviously had this book as a primary source.

[Susan Liston · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Most interesting. I've read a fair amount about Picasso and I thought he was a jerk. But now here is a first hand account from someone who lived with him for ten years and had two children with him. I still think he's a jerk, but even though I guessed she maybe have finally agreed with that assessment, I appreciated the even handed way she presents this story. No melodrama or whining.
It was especially fascinating hearing how he explained his creative processes to her. Not to mention some of the anecdotes, like their visit to Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. Also her take on his relationships and the personalities of his wife Olga, Marie-Therese Walter and Dora Maar. It's one thing for an author to surmise these things, but she knew them all. I loved some of the throwaway lines..when they go to Picasso's old house she says he never threw anything away, not a used matchbook or a little watercolor by Seurat. Yes, we all have that sort of thing in our junk drawers. Sigh. ( And by an odd coincidence I started reading this right before I saw that the National Geographic Channel was beginning a series about Pablo....several scenes from that show came straight from this book. )

[Laura Gangi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book from start to finish. There were some technical passages about painting and other techniques used in different mediums that I must admit I didn’t spend as much time on. After all, if you’re not an artist and aren’t planning on trying the techniques described, there’s no reason to absorb those details. Nonetheless, I found this to be a fascinating portrayal of not only Picasso but Francoise Gilot herself. She was and is a fearless woman who obviously didn’t let any societal norms dictate the course of her life or get in her way. She did what she wanted and lived life to the fullest. I found myself wanting more when I got to the end of the book, almost needing to know more about Francoise Gilot. After all, so much of her life was lived after Picasso. I just purchased “The Woman Who Says No” and I can’t wait to read it! I’m hoping it will have some of the answers to questions that I have about Francoise Gilot and her life after Picasso.

[James Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The young artist Francoise Gilot met Pablo Picasso in 1943 when she was 21 and he 61. She became his lover and muse. They lived together for 10 years without marrying, but the union produced a son and daughter because he said he loved children and would always take care of them. This is her memoir of those years. It's a thoroughly interesting, intimate look at the elder Picasso. It seems during those years he was primarily working in ceramic design and sculpture. Her descriptions of how some of Picasso's iconic pieces, like his portrait of her, La Femme-Fleur, and The Goat were created. But for me she was often too detailed and technical in describing how Picasso worked with his materials and subjects. But there are wonderful glimpses of other artists around Picasso, painters like Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse as well as writers like Paul Eluard and Gertrude Stein. And always resurfacing in their lives to bedevil Francoise were Picasso's former wives and lovers.

[Paula Martín Villarejo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Estuve años admirando ciegamente a Picasso sin conocer la persona que había detrás del artista...este libro me acercó de una manera honesta a sus fortalezas, pero sobre todo a su debilidades; con el cariño y cercanía de Françoise Gilot, que sin duda, atravesó la barrera de la admiración y llegó a conocerlo al desnudo. Muy revelador, lleno de curiosidades y escrito tal como una novela amena de una vida llena de lujo y arte.

[Kayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this book while looking for a biography on Picasso to read–I've been getting more into art, and while I knew vaguely that he didn't treat women well, I was interested in knowing more about his personal life, and also his artistic achievements and background. This memoir caught my eye when I realized it was written by his ex-mistress, and the mother of two of his children.

I was quickly captivated. If you follow me on social media you would've seen me posting quotes. First of all, I love Françoise–she's an artist herself, and I'd absolutely recommend looking her up. I felt a lot of empathy throughout the book and was glad that it focused on her own life too. There was a lot of name dropping, and if you're interested in the artistic types of this era who hung about Picasso, you'll love this. The descriptions were rich, and the dialogue was brilliant. Picasso himself I found to be nearly intolerable. Full of himself, eager to play manipulative games, prone to bad tempers. I fell into a reading slump during the last 100 pages because I was tired of hearing him speak. There was a lot of interesting insight into his creative process though, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a famous artist.

Can you separate the art from the artist? Maybe, or maybe not. But it's interesting looking at his art with this new insight. There's a quote at the end that stood out to me. It really encapsulated both Pablo and Françoise's relationship, in my opinion.

"'No woman leaves a man like me,' he said. I told him maybe that was the way it looked to him, but I was one woman who would, and was about to. A man as famous and as rich as he? He couldn't believe it, he said. I could only laugh at his complete misunderstanding of a woman with whom he had lived for so many years."

[jane haas damron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moral of the story: Picasso needed a lot of therapy.