Spanish Party Lithograph by Jean Cocteau, 1961

Original Lithograph by Jean Cocteau
Title: Spanish Party
1961
Signed in the stone/printed signature
Dimensions: 38 x 28 cm
Lithograph made for the portfolio ''Gitans et Corridas'' published by Société de Diffusion Artistique

Jean Cocteau

Writer, artist and film director Jean Cocteau was one of the most influential creative figures in the Parisian avant-garde between the two World Wars.

“The poet never asks for admiration; he wants to be believed.”
—Jean Cocteau
Synopsis

Jean Cocteau was born on July 5, 1889, in Maisons-Laffitte, France. He spent most of his life in Paris, where he became part of the artistic avant-garde and was known for his variety of accomplishments. Over a 50-year career, he wrote poetry, novels and plays; created illustrations, paintings and other art objects; and directed influential films, including The Beauty and the Beast and Orpheus. He died on October 11, 1963.

Early Life and Literary Debut

Jean Cocteau was born on July 5, 1889, in Maisons-Laffitte, France, a village 12 miles outside Paris, to Georges and Eugénie (née) Lecomte Cocteau. He and his two older siblings were brought up in comfortable household in Paris, where they were introduced to the arts by their parents. Their father, a lawyer and amateur artist, committed suicide in 1898.

After his father's death, Cocteau was raised by his mother and his maternal grandfather. He attended school at the Lycée de Condorcet in Paris and he showed an early talent for writing. When he was just 18, his poetry was read aloud in performance arranged by the well-known actor Edouard de Max, and he became the toast of literary Paris. His first book of poems, La Lampe d'Aladin (Aladdin's Lamp), was published a year later, in 1909.