Life with Picasso

By: Francoise Gilot, Carlton Lake, Lisa Alther - introduction

Narrated by: Mary Sarah

Françoise Gilot was in her early 20s when she met the 61-year-old Pablo Picasso in 1943. Brought up in a well-to-do, upper-middle-class family, who had sent her to Cambridge and the Sorbonne and hoped that she would go into law, the young woman defied their wishes and set her sights on being an artist. Her introduction to Picasso led to a friendship, a love affair, and a relationship of 10 years, during which Gilot gave birth to Picasso's two children, Paloma and Claude. Gilot was one of Picasso's muses; she was also very much her own woman, determined to make herself into the remarkable painter she did indeed become.

Life with Picasso, written with Carlton Lake and published in 1961, is about Picasso the artist and Picasso the man. We hear him talking about painting and sculpture, his life, his career, as well as other artists, both contemporaries and old masters. We glimpse Picasso in his many and volatile moods, dismissing his work, exultant over his work, entertaining his various superstitions, being an anxious father. But Life with Picasso is not only a portrait of a great artist at the height of his fame; it is also a picture of a talented young woman of exacting intelligence at the outset of her own notable career.

©1964 Francoise Gilot and Carlton Lake (P)2020 Tantor

Insufferable Narrator

I can't even finish this book because the reader or narrator is so ridiculous and irritating, with the most pretentious manner of speaking imaginable. A slightly breathless, affected tone that completely distracts from the story ruined this book for me.

Narrator and story

The story of Picassos life as told by his wife is excellent. The challenge is to get past the narrators breathy voice. As I listened further, I began thinking that perhaps the lack of emotion (extreme happiness or severe sadness) in the narrator’s voice was meant to portray her life as a child and young woman and the need to hide those emotions from her father. She hid them from Picasso as well. It takes getting used to the narrators voice, but once you do, the story is outstanding.

Interesting insight on historical figures

Intriguing interplay between a raging egotist and a woman firmly grounded in her own worth. I enjoyed the reader’s performance as well.

Candid memoir told with humor

Gilot’s memoir remains fresh and relevant today. Her narrative shares a first-hand glimpse of Picasso the human. Her voice is insightful and wise. The audio production and narration has some idiosyncratic pronunciations but I felt that Mary Sarah’s different timbres drew me in.

Very very weird narration.

Very weird narrator. The most strange accent, weird tone and voice. Can't finish listening to it.