- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (May 26 1989)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385261861
- ISBN-13: 978-0385261869
- Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 1.9 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#35,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Books > Arts & Photography > Artists, A-Z > ( P-R ) > Picasso, Pablo
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
[Gilot's] recall of his [Picasso's] discussions about art, details of private visits to friends such as Matisse, Braque and Giacometti, and her intimate understanding of his temperament, make this work unique DAILY TELEGRAPH This memoir is both a vivd portrait of a monstrously difficult man and a brilliant depiction of a great artist at work NEW YORK TIMES ... no-one in the Picasso entourage was so close to him... fascinating. Tim Hilton
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
Francoise Gilot met Picasso during the German occupation of Paris, she was twenty-one, he was sixty-two. For nearly a decade, Gilot shared her life with this giant of the art world, giving birth to two of his children, working as his model, and sharing his world. This uniquely candid and vivid memoir takes readers behind the Piccasso legend to meet the man.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Life of Devastation,
This review is from: Life with Picasso (Paperback)
Picasso has always fascinated me. I've always been curious about knowing what and who was behind those piercing black eyes that could freeze you in your own tracks; that man who thought women came only in two forms: either goddesses or doormats. Gilot's book of milestones succeeded at imparting some of his secrets - how she met him, loved him, and eventually was consumed by his larger-than-life and boisterous temperament; how he treated "his" women, his children, and friends; how he thought of and expressed his take on life; how he hated the words "like" and "appreciate" and preferred to either love or hate; how his whole existence fed and was borne on his art. Picasso, the labyrinth, and as throroughly drawn by Gilot, was a man who flirted with life by his own very terms and a take-it-or-leave-it attitude that ridiculed the very essence of it. A far cry from mild and an artist who flew in the face of the common, he never hoped to do; he did. He never waited to be given; he took. He was the god of his own self, and by the same token acted as if he had been the god of all. Gilot knew how to play his game, at least sometimes, but could never bring him closer to "normalcy." His genius overwhelmed his surroundings just as much as it had overwhelmed Picasso himself. The book is very well-written. Incidents and moments do not follow a chronological sequence; rather, they are told as she remembers them. She interjects her memories with her own impressions and epiphanies; how she felt at the time is juxtaposed with how she felt as she was writing the book, which was first published in 1964. Apollinaire, Gertrude Stein, Matisse, Braque, Cocteau, Max Jacob, Eluard, Miro, Modigliani, Goya, Giacometti, and many other lofty figures whose lives were intimately intertwined with Picasso's are narrated in an accentuated mood of writing. It's a very interesting book if one was interested in that Golden Age of aesthetic and thought schools like the Blue Period, Cubism, Socialist Realism, and how Picasso had lived through it all. It points out his most absorbing canvasses and expressively conveys how, when, and where each had been conceived and later fathered by him. I personally don't believe in formalism or the notion that art is self-contained or self-referential; there is a whole life out there, or rather "in" there, that crystallizes its point of departure thereby meditating its own maker. I loved this book not only for its author's elegance and depth, but also because of the breadth of her enfolded experiences, her bare feelings, and the intricacy of that snow-in-summer intimacy she had with that ferocious and insatiable matador of a human nature called Picasso. A monster, yes. And a genius who believed in passion as the only rule worth living by, and for.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting book, hard to put down once you get into it.,
By "ankspunx" (California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Life with Picasso (Paperback)
Not being very well educated in art, the book helped me better understand some of what Picasso was trying to portray in his artwork. It is an easy book to get through once you get into it, the way it is written it can be long and tedious at times but the information Francoise Gilot gives is quite sincere and in depth. The book will give you a better incite to Picasso's twisted and passionate life, leaving you with a newfound knowledge and idea about Picasso.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great perspective, from a person who knew first hand.,
By Erik K (Albuquerque, NM.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Life with Picasso (Paperback)
The best book on Picasso I have read. Francoise Gilot, wife to Picasso and a painter, writes possibly with better insight than Picasso himself could, and certainly any other "outside of the circle" biographer could, about Picasso's manner of painting, his personality and lifestyle, his motivations and a good part of his life. Excellent, excellent book.
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