If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

Main content

More than Picasso's muse: Françoise Gilot

This video brought to you by Tate.org.uk

At the age of 92, artist Françoise Gilot is brimming with creative energy and continues to paint every day. Back in the 1940s, Gilot was Pablo Picasso’s lover and muse, and a close affiliate with a generation of artists including Henri Matisse, Fernand Leger, and Georges Braque. In this interview from her New York studio, she talks about what her life was like at the centre of French modernism, and how she learned from her peers yet forged her own style even among the superstars of an art movement. As she puts it, "you have to put the energy of your being into the painting.”

Most people are familiar with Picasso, but had you heard of Françoise Gilot before? Why do you think this is?

.
Created by Tate.

Want to join the conversation?

  • hopper cool style avatar for user Madeliv
    Why does she have so many of her own works of art (from decades ago) in her home? Isn't it more common that works from good artists find their way to museums? I imagine artists themselves would also like to have their creations viewed by as many people as possible.
    (4 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • leaf green style avatar for user Camille @ Tate
      While lots of artworks do find their way to museums and galleries, many more live in artists' homes, studios, and personal collections. There is a number of possible reasons why this would be the case, but I get the impression that Gilot -- who is still painting prolifically at the age of 93 -- might like to work surrounded by her paintings in order to learn from them, or to be inspired. That being said, many of her paintings are in museums and galleries around the world, too.
      (8 votes)

Video transcript