FRANÇOISE GILOT
1961- 63 THE MYTH OF THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR
A trip to Greece, reminds Gilot of King Minos’ Minotaur. Half bull-half human, he is enclosed in a labyrinth from which it is impossible to escape. Every nine years, fourteen young Athenians are sacrificed to the beast. Theseus, son of king Aegeus of Athens, sails to Crete to kill the beast. When he arrives, King Minos‘s daughter Ariadne falls in love with him and decides to save him. She gives Theseus a long thread to unravel as he proceeds into the labyrinth. Theseus kills the Minotaur, finds his way out and sails off with Ariadne. At Naxos, he betrays and forgets Ariadne. From 1960 to 63, Gilot solely paints a completely abstract series on the theme of The Labyrinth. In 1963, she writes Life with Picasso, co-authored by Carlton Lake, published by McGraw-Hill, United Sates. It is translated in many languages.