The Woman Who Says No

Françoise Gilot On Her Life With and Without Picasso
Greystone, 161 Pages
Malte Herwig (Author) Jane Billinghurst (English Translation)

Françoise Gilot’s ex-lover Pablo Picasso called her “the woman who says no.” She may have spent her life in the company of men who changed the world—Picasso, Matisse, and Jonas Salk—but Gilot forged vital relationships with ground-breaking artists and scientists on her own terms, creating an artistic style all her own, translated into an enormous collection of paintings and drawings help by private collectors and public museums around the world. In her early nineties, she generously shared her hospitality and wisdom with writer Malte Herwig, who started out as an interviewer but found himself drawn into the role of pupil of Gilot, whom he called “a philosopher of joy,” introduced him to different says of seeing the world.

No matter how old you are, you must behave like the ocean. Watch the movement of the waves, the coming and going of the tides. All life has movement, rhythm, a momentum you must seize like a dancer, and if you allow this movement to flow through you, then you become one with the rhythm of life"

Françoise Gilot

In history, few people have claimed the titles of artist and muse; in her life before, with, and after Picasso. Françoise Gilot proves herself to be both.

Larry Gagosian, Gagosian Gallery

A fascinating account of a great talent.

Jeanne Beker

Gilot ist Malerin, aber auch Wahrheitssuchende und, ja, ein Künstlerin des Lebens. Das Buch gibt nicht nur einen Eindruck von der dramatischen Liebesbeziehung, sondern lässt auch einen intimen Blick in die Kunstgeschichte in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts zu.

Südkurier

Video

Artist Françoise Gilot

Reviews & Blogs

Interviews & Articles

Françoise Gilot’s fascinating life, with and without Picasso – Interview with Malte Herwig – The Star, Toronto

Life with Picasso was a catastrophe worth living – Malte Herwig, National Post

The woman who said no: My love affair with Pablo Picasso – Malte Herwig, Sunday Telegraph

Events

Everyone’s Books, July 2016