Blue and black portrait of Jonas Salk in window-shaped frame from waist up with his hand against his cheek.Gilot married Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine, in 1970 and the two were married for 25 years.From http://www.francoisegilot.com/: In March 1969, Claude Picasso (Gilot’s son) travels on assignment to photograph The Salk Institute in La Jolla, California and meets with Dr. Jonas Salk, the polio vaccine pioneer. That October, during her return stay in Los Angeles to create additional lithographs at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Gilot is invited to La Jolla to stay with friends she knows from Paris. During this visit, Gilot is introduced to Dr. Jonas Salk, who offers her a tour of The Salk Institute for Biological Studies - the world renowned facility he founded in the early 1960s for conducting research dedicated to the improvement of human health - that was designed by Louis Kahn and is located nearby on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla. Gilot is familiar with Dr. Salk’s accomplishments – her children, Claude and Paloma, were among the first to receive the Salk polio vaccine in France. However, Gilot is not that conversant in science of this nature and Dr. Salk is not all that knowledgeable about art. Their mutual love of architecture immediately becomes a common ground for enthusiastic dialogue. Dr. Salk follows her to New York in October and to Paris in December. Gilot invites him to join her at La Galloise for the Christmas holidays.
In 1970 Françoise traveled to California for the Easter holidays and meets with Jonas in Los Angeles, where he presented his marriage proposal. Gilot returns to Paris. In May, Gilot and a group of friends sail in the Aegean Sea. Dr. Salk is waiting for her in Paris when she returns. On June 29, Françoise Gilot and Dr. Jonas Salk are married in the City Hall of Neuilly. In addition to Gilot’s family, Jonas’ three adult sons, Peter, Darrell and Jonathan, attend the wedding. With no time for a honeymoon, Gilot remains in Paris to make the necessary arrangement for relocating to La Jolla. Owing to the care of her mother and Paloma, Gilot plans to work six months in her Paris studio and six months in California. In August, Gilot shifts her primary residence, settling into Dr. Salk’s home in La Jolla, not far from The Salk Institute. Her daughter, Aurelia, enrolls in a private school in La Jolla. Without a studio, she works at home, creating mostly works on paper.Dr. Salk Weds Francoise Gilot in France, NY Times, 1970https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/30/archives/dr-salk-weds-francoise-gilot-in-france.htmlLife After Picasso: Françoise Gilot, Voque, 2012https://www.vogue.com/article/life-after-picasso-franoise-gilot