Françoise Gilot, the celebrated painter and author of three works of nonfiction, including the memoir Life with Picasso (NYRB Classics), about her ten-year relationship with Pablo Picasso, died last week at the age of 101. From Gilot’s obituary in The New York Times:
“Asked . . . if she had ever felt competitive with Picasso or his friends — among them Chagall, Braque, Matisse and Giacometti — Ms. Gilot replied: ‘That never entered my mind. I started painting, after all, at 3 years old. As a child, you aren’t thinking in terms of me, me, me. You are not capable of that.’
But she acknowledged that those 20th century masters had an inevitable impact. They ‘helped me grow,’ she said, and by their very attention instilled in her a measure of self-confidence.
‘I realized,’ she said, ‘if they are so great, then I am not so small.’”
To read the rest of the obituary and learn more about Gilot’s life, click here.