age by her mother and grandmother. Her grandmother had held a party when Françoise was about five years old. A certain man caught Gilot's eye as being interesting, and she asked her grandmother who the man was. He turned out to be a painter, Emile Mairet. Gilot's father became close friends with the painter, and Françoise would often tag along to visit his studio. At age six, Françoise's mother began teaching her art, with the exception of drawing. Her mother believed artists become too dependent on erasers, and instead taught Françoise in watercolor and India ink. If she made a mistake, she would have to make it intentional to her work. By the age of thirteen, she began to study with Mlle. Meuge, which continued for six years. At the age of fourteen, she was introduced to ceramics, and a year later, she studied with the Post-Impressionist painter Jacques Beurdeley. At the age of 21, she met Picasso. Although Picasso had influenced Françoise Gilot's work as a cubist painter, she developed her own style. She avoided the sharp edges and angular forms that Picasso sometimes used. Instead, she used organic figures. During the war, Gilot's father attempted to save the most valuable household belongings by moving them, but the truck was bombed by the Germans, leading to the loss of Gilot's drawings and watercolors. Her stature as an artist and the value of her work have increased over the years. In 2021 her painting Paloma à la Guitare, a 1965 portrait of her daughter, sold for $1.3 million at Sotheby's in London. As of January 2022 her work is on exhibit in multiple leading museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Personal life From 1943 to 1953, Gilot was the lover and artistic muse of Pablo Picasso, with whom she had two children, Claude and Paloma. Gilot married artist Luc Simon in 1955. Their daughter Aurélia was born the following year. The couple divorced in 1962. In 1969, Gilot was introduced to American polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk at the home of mutual friends in La Jolla, California. Their shared appreciation of architecture led to a brief courtship and a 1970 wedding in Paris. During their marriage, which lasted until Salk's death in 1995, the couple lived apart for half of every year as Gilot continued to paint in