88 newyork| december9–22, 2019
design huntinglaterrentinga loft onlowerFifthAvenue.In 1990,she
boughtthisapartment—itsmagnificentstudiohasnorth-
facinglightanda fireplace—ina 1902buildingonthe
UpperWestSidethat wasoriginallybuiltforartists.Her
unsparing 1964 memoir,LifeWithPicasso,whichwasreis-
suedthisyear,is notonlya vividaccountof herlifewithhim
butanintimatepanoramaoflifeinParisduringandafter
theGermanoccupation,a ParispopulatedbyGeorges
Braque,HenriMatisse,AlbertoGiacometti,andGertrude
Stein,amongothers.Last year, Taschenpublishedherillus-
tratedtravelnotebooksfromhertripstoVenice,Senegal,
andIndiawithherlatehusbandthepolio-vaccinepioneer
Dr.JonasSalk,whomshemarriedin1970.(Anotherlifeshe
led!)WhenI visit,herfriendDorotheaElkonis alsothere,
on the other end of the sofa. Gilothasa showat Elkon’sgal-
lery on East 81st Street throughDecember 20 featuring
works old and new, many of whichwere madeinthisapart-
ment. While we talk, Ana MariaDimoulis,Gilot’s house-
keeper for the past 25 years, enterswitha neattrayof demi-
tasse cups of espresso and a plateof biscuits.Elkonmentions
that Gilot’s father had reallywanteda boywhenshewas
born. “Oh, what does it matter?,”Gilotretorts.Butthenshe
adds, “On top of it all, they neverhadanotherchild!I don’t
know why?” How did she knowthey wanteda boy?“Because
I was dressed as a boy, and Ihadtodoeverythinglike a
boy. Unless I was very stupid,I couldnothavemissedit.”
But it wasn’t a problem for her.“It fit mevery wellto bea boy.
I thought it was more convenientbecauseyouwere entitled
to do more things. Girls, don’tdothis,don’t dothat.Boys,go
ahead!” When asked how thisworkedafterpubertyset in,
Gilot says, “Ah, that was okay becausethenI becamebeauti-
ful. So that was another way ofgettingtowhere I wanted.”
By her own account, Gilotwasalwaysprecocious:She
could read and write by the timeshewas3,sheis ambi-
dextrous, and she has alwayspaintedwell.“I amthesame
artist I was at 12 years old,” shesays.“Iwasalreadyvery
good.” And her father pushedherandsheattendedlaw
school as he wished, before droppingouttopursuepaint-
ing. “I can have fear like anybodyelse,butif youhavefear,
you have to overcome it.” Gilotwasjust 19when theNazis
invaded Paris. The night shemet Picassoat Le Catalan
restaurant on the Left Bank, sheandherartistfriendGen-
eviève Aliquot were celebratingtheopeningoftheirart
show together. And Gilot wasn’tafraidofPicasso.“Pablo
had a temper much like my father,soit wasa continua-
tion,” she says. “Oh yes, I couldsay yesorno,butI knew
exactly what it was all about.”SheknewfullwellwhatFamily Portraits
Above, Gilot and her daughter
Paloma Picasso in the south
of France in the early ’50s.
Below, Gilot’s self-portrait
with her son, Maternity,
Françoise and Claude (1953).Françoise Gilot
photographed in
her studio.