Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Jean Cocteau

Menton's Marriages (Registry Hall) - A room decorated my Jean cocteau. (In the city of Menton, France)

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) . French poet, dramatist and film director. A leading figure in European Modernism, he worked with Picasso, Diaghilev, and Stravinsky. He produced many volumes of poetry, ballets such as Le Boeuf sur le Toit (The Ox on the Roof - 1920), plays IE-Orpheus, 1926, and a mature novel of bourgeois French life, Les Enfants Terribles (Children of the Game - 1929). (Brockhampton)
I thought this piece so interesting, I wanted to share it. The lines throughout the figures and background remind me of Spanish embroidery... although can't remember the name of it! Cocteau was much more than a poet and film director he was also an artist. He created an art museum as part of his legacy in the town of Menton on the gorgeous French Riviera. Read and see more of his art here.


3 comments:

Dave King said...

Thanks for this. It takes me back to my teens, when Cocteau was one of my great heroes - my ballet-going, days and so much else, some of which I am beginning to forget. You have helped to stop the tide going out.

artslice said...

Hooray! Don't think I've ever helped stopping the tide :) He's such a multi-talent.

Patrice said...

I've always loved the drawings of Jean Cocteau - and I was so pleased to see you your post! What an amazing talent.

Merci!