Picasso’s son did not survive the death of his mother

He was a photographer, cameraman, film director, artist, graphic designer and businessman.

Claude Ruiz Picasso has died in Switzerland at the age of 76, only a few months outliving his mother Francoise Gilot, who died at 101 in June.

After her death, the son stepped aside from managing the family property, which he had been engaged in since 1989, and transferred all affairs to his sister, Paloma. Picasso’s older children are also no longer alive: son Paul (from Olga Khokhlova) died in 1975, Maya (daughter of Marie-Therese Walter) died in 2022. Of Picasso’s children, only Paloma is now alive, but there are also grandchildren. Claude has two children – Jasmine and Solal.

In 1973, after the death of Pablo Picasso, Claude, through the courts, achieved recognition as heirs of him and his sister. The artist did not leave a will, as a result, his children from different women quarreled to the nines. The controversy erupted with renewed vigor when, in 1999, Claude sold Picasso’s name and signature to an automobile company. But through the court, this transaction was recognized as legal.

Claude Ruiz Picasso has worked as a photographer, cameraman, film director, artist, graphic designer and businessman. In particular, in his youth he was an assistant to fashionable New York photographer Richard Avedon. But he went down in history as the son of the great Picasso. In 2011, he was even awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor of France – for how he disposed of his father’s legacy. Although Claude himself, it seems, these duties were a burden.

“I never wanted such a role for myself,” he admitted in an interview. Due to his responsibility to manage his father’s legacy, Claude was forced to give up photography. But he found a hobby for himself – car racing. Until recently, 10-12 times a year, he took part in the rally. By the way, Claude became interested in racing indirectly thanks to his father. One day, he accidentally met photographer David Douglas Duncan, who once photographed Pablo Picasso. We talked about photography, became friends, and then David dragged him into his hobby.

Despite the fact that his father played a decisive role in his son’s life and he needed to talk about Pablo Picasso all the time, as well as to study his works, Claude was strongly attached to his mother. No wonder. Claude was born when the artist was over 70, and a few years later Francoise Gilot left her husband, taking the children. Claude was 6. Because of the book “My Life with Picasso” Pablo was angry with his ex-wife, contacts between them were interrupted. Francoise and the children went to New York, and Picasso lived out his life in a French estate with Jacqueline Roque. Claude often visited his mother and celebrated his birthday with her.

There were many centenarians in the Zhilo family. Francoise managed to celebrate her 100th birthday, and Claude’s great-grandmother also lived for almost a century. Despite Françoise’s advanced age, her death was a blow to her son. In recent months, he did not appear in public and retired. It seemed that the energy left him completely.

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