Claude Picasso

Claude Ruiz Gilot was born in France to artists Françoise Gilot and Pablo Picasso on May 15, 1947.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/arts/design/picasso-museum-to-reopen-at-last-with-new-leader.html?_r=0|title=Picasso Museum to Reopen at Last, With New Leader|last=Carvajal|first=Doreen|date=3 September 2014|work=The New York Times}} His father wanted to name him Pablo, but since he already had a son named Paul—the French equivalent—Gilot wanted to name him after Claude Gillot (1673–1722), a pioneering French Rococo artist and mentor to fellow artist Jean-Antoine Watteau.{{Cite book|last1=Gilot|first1=Françoise|url=https://archive.org/details/lifewithpicasso100gilo|title=Life with Picasso|last2=Lake|first2=Carlton|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1964|location=New York, Toronto, London|page=[https://archive.org/details/lifewithpicasso100gilo/page/160 160]|oclc=610027514|author-link=Françoise Gilot|author-link2=Carlton Lake|url-access=registration|via=the Internet Archive}} His surname was changed to Picasso at the age of 12.{{Cite web |last=Hawley |first=Janet |date=2011-08-28 |title=A wife apart |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/france/paris/a-wife-apart-7x86q823xm5?region=global |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=The Sunday Times |language=en}}Hawley, Janet (23 July 2011). "Pablo was the greatest love of my life ... I left before I was destroyed", Good Weekend, The Sydney Morning Herald, p. 19.

Picasso lived in New York from 1967 to 1974. In 1968, he met Sara Lavner (Schultz), a young woman from Brooklyn. They married in 1969 and divorced in 1972.{{Cite book |title=The Glitter Factory: The Making and Unmaking of Sara Picasso (A Memoir) |last=Lavner |first=Sara |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |year=2014 |isbn=978-1499379457 |pages=27–95}}

He worked as an assistant for photographer Richard Avedon for almost a year, and studied cinema and mise-en-scène at the Actors Studio. He was a photojournalist for various publications such as Esquire, Time, Life, Vogue, and Saturday Review.{{Cite web|url=https://www.culture.gouv.fr/Nous-connaitre/Decouvrir-le-ministere/Histoire-du-ministere/Ressources-documentaires/Discours-de-ministres/Discours-de-ministres-depuis-1998/Frederic-Mitterrand-2009-2012/Discours-2009-2012/Remise-de-decorations-a-Claude-Ruiz-Picasso-Myung-Whun-Chung-Ismail-Serageldin-et-Evgueni-Kissin|title=Remise de décorations à Claude Ruiz-Picasso, Myung-Whun Chung, Ismaïl Serageldin, et Evgueni Kissin|website=www.culture.gouv.fr}}{{Cite journal |date=December 1969 |title=Work In Progress |url=https://classic.esquire.com/issue/19691201/print |journal=Esquire |volume=73 |pages=212-213}}

After the release of his mother's memoir Life with Picasso (1964), Picasso became estranged from his father, who severed ties with him and his younger sister, Paloma Picasso.{{Cite book |last=McNeese |first=Tim |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Pablo_Picasso/ASur-kzJy3AC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Claude%20Gilot |title=Pablo Picasso |date=2006 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0687-8 |pages=102 |language=en}} In 1970, Picasso and his sister filed a lawsuit in France to be recognized as their father's legitimate children, thereby becoming heirs. Eventually, a court decided in favor of Picasso and his sister Paloma in 1974.{{Cite news |date=March 13, 1974 |title=2 Picassos By Mistress Will Inherit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-claude-and-paloma-picasso-rul/170280809/ |work=Daily News |location=New York |pages=39}}

His father's legacy was important to him, and he established the Picasso Administration to look after copyright and other legal matters.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/the-family-concern-of-claude-picasso/story-e6frg8n6-1226181435487|title=The Family Concern of Claude Picasso in The Australian}} From 1989 until 2023, Picasso served as the court-appointed administrator of the Picasso estate, where he collaborated with his father's descendants to manage the artist's legacy.{{Cite web |last=Greenberger |first=Alex |date=2023-08-24 |title=Claude Picasso, Longtime Administrator of the Picasso Estate, Dies at 76 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/claude-picasso-dead-1234677612/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}

Over the following few decades, the Picasso family would experience a series of internal conflicts. The most heated dispute occurred in 1999 when PSA Peugeot-Citroen unveiled an automobile under Picasso's name after Claude Picasso sold the artist's name and signature. Pablo Picasso’s granddaughter Marina Picasso filed a lawsuit against Claude Picasso, alleging that he had treated "one of the greatest painters, a genius," disrespectfully. When asked about the situation, his attorney told The Guardian: "Claude Ruiz Picasso is recognized by a majority of the five surviving heirs as being perfectly entitled to exploit the Picasso brand name."

Picasso also owned and raced vintage automobiles.{{Cite web|url=https://gagosian.com/quarterly/2019/01/22/conversation-claude-picasso-john-richardson/|title=In Conversation: Claude Picasso and John Richardson|date=22 January 2019|website=Gagosian Quarterly}}

Picasso died on 24 August 2023, at the age of 76, almost three months after his mother's death.{{cite news |last1=Cain |first1=Sian |title=Claude Ruiz Picasso, youngest son of Spanish artist, dies aged 76 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/aug/25/claude-ruiz-picasso-youngest-son-death-76 |access-date=25 August 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=25 August 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/claude-ruiz-picasso-fils-de-pablo-picasso-est-decede-a-76-ans-20230824|title=Claude Picasso, le gentilhomme andalou|date=24 August 2023|website=LEFIGARO}} He was survived by his wife, Sylvie Vautier Picasso, and his sons, Solal and Jasmin.{{Cite news |last=Sandomir |first=Richard |date=2023-08-27 |title=Claude Ruiz-Picasso, Who Ran His Artist Father's Estate, Dies at 76 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/27/arts/claude-ruiz-picasso-dead.html |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Cain |first=Sian |date=2023-08-25 |title=Claude Ruiz Picasso, youngest son of Spanish artist, dies aged 76 |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/aug/25/claude-ruiz-picasso-youngest-son-death-76 |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0261-3077}}

Claude Picasso was decorated with the Legion d'Honneur in 2011 for his personal work as photographer, cinematographer, and visual artist, as well as his efforts to administer his father's heritage.

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• {{cite book |last=Mallory |first=Carole |author-link=Carole Mallory |date=2013 |title=Picasso's Ghost (A Love Story) |url= |location= |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1479341856}}

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• {{discogs artist|Claude Picasso}}
• {{IMDb name|2853545}}

{{Pablo Picasso|state=collapsed}}

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Category:1947 births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:French photojournalists

Category:French people of Spanish descent

Category:French people of Italian descent

Category:People of Ligurian descent

Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour

Category:20th-century French male artists

Category:21st-century French male artists

Category:People from Boulogne-Billancourt

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