The Bermans first saw Gilot’s work in an exhibition at the Findlay Galleries of New York in the mid-1960s. They commissioned Gilot to create original lithographs over the years, developing a friendship with the artist.

Much later, in 1991, Gilot visited Ursinus for the first time when her husband, Jonas Salk, spoke at a Founders’ Day celebration. The museum that bears the name of her friends opened just two years prior. During her visit, the Berman Museum’s founding director, Lisa Tremper Hanover, proposed an exhibition of Gilot’s work at the Berman, and in 1995, the museum opened Stone Echoes: Original Prints by Françoise Gilot. It was the first retrospective and comprehensive exhibition of Gilot’s lithographs and etchings.

“Her work has such rigor and confidence,” Nancy Berman said. “She felt a lot of trust in [Ursinus] and this was such a gift of respect because it was the museum saying that it would be open to becoming a place of record for her work.”

Philip and Muriel passed away in 1997 and 2004, respectively. Gilot received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Ursinus in 2001, and she made a substantial gift of works on paper in 2008. Today, the Berman is an international center for the study of Gilot’s works, housing more than 270 of them.

“There are many aspects of the collection that represent my parents’ relationship with Françoise,” Berman said. “The arts, particularly at the Berman Museum, are about enhancing learning and expression and communication. And I think that’s a beautiful aspect of the legacy of their friendship.”

Visit the Berman Museum through December 15 to see Françoise Gilot: Shaping Freedom Through Abstraction.