JUNE 23, 2025
Estate Sales : from the collections of Charles Deering, Chicago, IL, | Chicago Institute University Library | The National Art Club | Chubb Insurance
FRANCOISE GILOT
1921-2023
Estimate
$150,000 - $200,000
Self Portrait
Picasso
Property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC
The Double Portrait of Gilot/Picasso is a masterpiece of unparalleled formal elegance fracturing two distinct profiles within a single portrait. Painted in 1951, the year Gilot and Picasso parted ways, this work is a powerful manipulation of color by Gilot.
REFERENCE: Painting on Left
Self Portrait
Pablo Picasso
Property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
DETAILS
LOT 219
Title: Double Portrait, Gilot/Picasso
Medium: Oil on canvas, Signed and Dated 1951
Size: 35 x 28.58 in., width (88.9 x 72.6 cm., width)
Estimate $150,000 - $200,000
PROVENANCE
Provenance: Christie's NY
NOTES
Françoise Gilot is a French painter of the Post-World War II School. At the age of 21 she met Pablo Picasso, and the two embarked on a ten-year relationship. Gilot is considered by some to have been his muse, and though her work during this time was influenced by Picasso’s Cubism, her paintings are characterized by a preference for organic forms over Picasso’s use of sharp angles.
In 1953, Gilot left Picasso, taking with her their two children, Claude and Paloma, and 11 years later, published the best-selling book "Life With Picasso" describing their intimate family life and artistic collaborations.
Gilot went on to maintain studios in La Jolla, New York, and Paris, with her later paintings featuring saturated color relationships and structured compositions. Over time, her practice has expanded to include printmaking techniques such as monographs and aquatints. Born on November 26, 1921 in Neilly-sur-Seine, France, Gilot recently passed away at 101 years of age in 2023 in New York.