Marie Francoise Gilo - artist and graphic artist, writer. Her fame came after the publication of the autobiography "My Life with Picasso" with a description of the relationship with the famous master.
Marie Francoise's mother, Madeleine Reno, was a talented artist. Father Emil Gilo was a successful businessman.
The hard way to art
The girl was born in late November 1921 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. My father was very authoritarian. He made the girl cut his hair short, wear trousers, turning him into a boy. When it turned out that Marie was left-handed, the head of the family retrained her daughter to write with her right hand. As a result, Zhilo perfectly learned to own both.
Dad followed his daughter’s studies strictly and demanded success in sports. With all the girl's fears, he fought with his methods. Marie, who was afraid of the water, was forced to sail on a sailing yacht, thrown into the water and forced to sail further. He was afraid of heights - they took to the mountains and forced to jump from the rocks. The anger of the father frightened the daughter more than his fears.
Once a girl met a stranger at her grandmother who fascinated her. It was a famous artist Emil Mare. The five-year-old baby decided to become an artist. Mother began to teach daughter to draw.
At ten, Zhilo sank to an art school. At seventeen she arranged with her grandmother her first exhibition. However, her father dreamed of her education in international law. For two years, Francoise studied at the Sorbonne, studied English literature and law. Any sciences were given to her without difficulty.
Everything was more complicated with art. Marie had to prove the right to her favorite activity. A written statement of his desire led to threats. Grandmother stood up for her granddaughter. Francoise still managed to insist. She began as an abstractionist. Later she took up graphics and lithography, succeeded in aquatint.
Fateful meeting
In 1938 she opened her first workshop in Paris in the house of Anna Reno, grandmother. The insert was also successfully completed in 1943. At the same time, acquaintance with Picasso took place. Francoise was twenty-one. The meeting took place in a cafe. To Zhilo with a girlfriend, Picasso sat down. The painter invited the girl to the workshop. However, the artist did not suspect that in front of him was not a fragile and ready-for-all girl. The confrontation with her father tempered Marie and made her fearless.
Relations more closely resembled not a romance, but a duel. Picasso had to conquer the chosen one for a long time. She appreciated independence, knew how to restrain herself. Having understood everything, the great artist agreed that pressure would not help. He tamed a fan and excelled at it.
Together, artists began to live in 1948 in Vallauris. In 1946 a series of portraits of Zhilo was painted. Picasso called his muse a flower woman. Several times, Francoise tried to leave, but the painter returned her. In character, the great master strongly resembled Marie's father. Meeting with him became a tragedy for many of his chosen ones.
The children of Claude and Paloma appeared. Life is not made easier for children. Pablo’s character turned out to be complicated. He did not understand why Marie was so unwilling to obey. Having taken the children, Zhilo left Picasso in 1953.
She became the only one to leave him alone. The woman did not arrange tragedies and did not try to attract attention. She left to live and create. Common with Picasso acquaintances ceased to communicate with her.
Life goes on
Gradually, Marie established her being. She was engaged in creativity, freed from the influence of the great master on life and work. There were new acquaintances in the world of art.
In 1955, Francoise found happiness with Luke Simon. In a family with a painter, a child was born, daughter Aurelia. The couple made the decision to leave in 1962. The ex-wife maintained friendly relations. Francoise was asked several times to write memoirs about his life with the great painter. However, Pablo did his best to prevent publication.
The first place at Zhilo was given to work. She set a strict schedule. Three days were devoted to writing canvases, three days to work on a book. In writing, she was helped by the critic Lake. For six months, the memoirs remained in the top of sales.
In the end, the work was created "My Life with Picasso." They described the artist’s work and his difficult relationship with his companions. After the book was published in America, the communication of the father with the children completely stopped.
English Picasso did not know. And the work itself did not read. He was outraged by the fact of publication. However, Francoise was grateful for interruption of communication, because that is why she was able to again begin to do what she loved and become a famous painter.
