Picasso seen through eyes of Françoise
Translator: Malini Govinnage
Publisher: Wijesuriya Grantha Kendraya
“Reading ‘My Life with Picasso’ I was struck by the character of
Francoise, this one woman among many women in the emotionally charged
life of this exceptional artist. I came to know her closely as she
narrated her intimate and often traumatic association with Picasso and I
began to feel that here was a woman I must have known in the past. I
looked for more information about her and found my regard for her grew.
I started translating her work about Picasso to introduce the life and
work of Picasso to the Sinhala reader narrated by this woman of beauty,
charm and exceptional courage...’
 That impression, in a nutshell, was what prompted
journalist/translator Malini Govinnage to take on the fairly massive
work of translating the intimate detailed life of Pablo Picasso as
narrated by his one time lover, Francoise Gilot in association with
Carlton Lake.
Though a Sinhala version of a detailed account of the life of Picasso
may not be everyone’s taste in reading, what comes through the life of
this one woman in a setting and milieu entirely different to the life as
it is known to us, is what attracted me in this work.
‘Life with Picasso’ was first published in the United States in 1964.
Acclaimed then as the most comprehensive work on the life of this great
artist, the book was translated into Spanish, Italian and German almost
immediately after the original work was launched. During the first year
a million copies of the English version was sold.
The popularity of the book - though Picasso was certainly the chief
protagonist - was due in no small measure to the mastery of his
narrator, his lover and partner for ten years of the most productive
period of his life, and the mother of his two children. Pablo Picasso
had a turbulent love life. He married two women he associated with and
had several lovers all of whom he discarded after some time. Francoise
was never his wife, but reading this translation gives the insight into
a strange relationship and Francoise’s courage. Of all his women she was
the only one who left him. After the break up of this relationship she
studied art at the Sorbonne in Paris. She lives in both Paris and the
United States and occasionally teaches in both countries. An artist
herself, her work is permanently exhibited in both the US and Europe.
Reading the translation one can see how exasperated and angry Picasso
was when he read the original manuscript as we read that three times he
tried legal means to stop its publication. By this time he had married
again and Francoise had to resort to the law to get her two children to
use their father’s name. When Picasso died in 1973 his then wife did not
allow Francoise or her two children by him to attend his funeral.
Readers of the Sinhala version of Francoise’s work could see the
honesty of Francoise’s estimation of his work and his life of which she
writes with affection, praise and emotion. Her sense of history and a
powerful memory are the main ingredients to get a close and intimate
knowledge of this great artist’s work. The details of how in her quest
to write about him, she found newspaper and magazine clippings of
articles and reviews in three cardboard boxes in his last home in the
south of France make fascinating reading as much as a glimpse into a man
whose personal foibles are hardly known. Though Malini’s indepth study
of this work and her translation were spurred by her admiration of
Francoise, ‘Life with Picasso’ is essentially his life and work, against
the background of some of the politically charged years of the last
century. Francoise recounts intimate details of how it was ‘almost
impossible’ to get him out of bed of a morning and the routine of his
mornings which had to be observed faithfully.
He had the most irritating ways, Francoise recalls. He never answered
a letter but kept all his fan mail in boxes in his cluttered room.
Clumsily nailed to the walls by his bed were his most precious
paintings. He lay in his brass bed and constantly mourned about his
illnesses, mostly imaginary.
The translation - true to the original work - makes no effort to
comment on Picasso, the artist. That was not Francoise’s intention. Hers
is almost a labour of love, however much of a cliche that sounds. His
greatness and the supreme place he held in the world of arts and which
he still does among many sections of his fans the world over, come
through in her narrative.
Malini Govinnage should be commended on taking on this - to me - the
onerous task of communicating the intricacies of the life and work of an
artist hardly known to the general readers in this country. Her
translation is an eye opener to the greatness of Picasso’s work, his
popularity and the esteem he still commands in the world of arts.
As for the translation itself, perforce there has to be notes and
explanations and these have been faithfully attended to by the
translator. They are an integral part of the translation as most names
of individuals, places and situations are unfamiliar to the general
reader. It has taken an immense amount of toil and patience, and adds
greatly to the finished product.
Malini’s narrative style is simple and easy on the reader which is
especially essential when introducing a little known work to the reader
who is unfamiliar with the subject. This she does without effort. Taking
into account her years of experience in writing in Sinhala and English
and translating both prose and poetry into Sinhala, the task of
translating Picasso into Sinhala seems to have been not such an arduous
task. She has succeeded in creating an interest in Picasso - both in the
greatness of his work, the difficult conditions against which he worked
most of his life, his little peccadilloes which only someone intimately
connected to him could relate with a great deal of love and patience,
albeit with some pinpricks here and there.
I would like to commend Malini in her attempt to give today’s Sinhala
reader something different in the way of translations. Picasso’s life
and work in Sinhala may not be popular fare for some, but the
translator’s effort at conveying something totally alien to our readers
and the sincerity with which she has completed her task need mention.
In her translation she has followed the little mentioned maxim of
translation that competence in the two languages does not make a good
translator. An effective translation needs knowledge and an
understanding of the different cultures, different mores and lifestyles
against which a narrative is poised.
Malini Govinnage has undoubtedly achieved this in her translation.
Vijitha Fernando
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