Jean COCTEAU (1889-1963)

Scène XII, La Machine Infernale, from the theatre edition 

Lithography, 1957

Dimensions: Height 22.23 cm, Width 15.24 cm (8.75 x 6 in) 

This exquisite original color lithograph by Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Scène XII, La Machine Infernale, reflects the artist's characteristic lyrical draftsmanship, classical elegance, and theatrical sensibility, beautifully articulated through his fluid, poetic line. Executed on parchment Vergé de Voiron des Papeteries Navarre paper, the work measures 8.75 x 6 inches (22.23 x 15.24 cm) and is unsigned and unnumbered as issued. The composition reveals a profound mastery of form, seamlessly blending classical clarity with modern abstraction. The print is well preserved, displaying a condition entirely consistent with its age and medium, with a provenance directly tracking to the 1957 album portfolio.

The piece originates from the historic 1957 portfolio Jean Cocteau de l'Académie française, Théâtre, Édition ornée par l'auteur de dessins in texte et de quarante lithographies originales en couleurs, tome I, published by Éditions Bernard Grasset, Paris. This publication stands as one of the most ambitious and luxurious Parisian achievements of the mid-twentieth century, marrying Cocteau's theatrical writings with a vast cycle of original color lithographs created expressly for this edition. Rooted firmly in the French tradition of the livre d'artiste, the project unites fine typography—composed in historic Garamond characters—with masterful lithographic printing executed by Mourlot Frères, Paris, widely recognized as one of the preeminent fine art lithographic ateliers of the twentieth century. Cocteau closely supervised the entirety of the artistic conception, from the initial imagery and layout to the precise sequencing and integration of text and drawings, rendering the album a unified, total work of art shaped entirely by the author's singular vision.

Detailed production records from the portfolio colophon note that the text was printed on the presses of l'imprimerie Darantiere in Dijon, completing typography work on July 30, 1957. While the lithographs were pulled at the Atelier Mourlot et Fils in Paris, the accompanying binding boards were executed by l'Atelier Barasi in Alfortville, following an original model designed by Cocteau himself. The complete edition was issued across a sequence of selective tirages, comprising LX examples on Madagascar paper (numbered Madagascar I to L and I to X), CCX examples on Velin de Rives (numbered Velin de Rives I to CC and I to X), and VMMMMMDCCCXC examples on Vergé de Voiron des Papeteries Navarre under a special binding (numbered Vergé de Voiron I to VMMMMDCCC and S.P. I to S.P. XC). This particular impression belongs to the definitive edition printed on the Vergé de Voiron paper. Today, the portfolio remains a cornerstone of Cocteau's printed graphic work, celebrated internationally for its sophisticated synthesis of literature, lithography, and design.

Jean Cocteau was a French artist, poet, playwright, filmmaker, and designer whose boundless imagination and multidisciplinary genius established him as one of the principal architects of twentieth-century culture. Born in Maisons-Laffitte near Paris, Cocteau emerged as a prodigy whose creative output spanned literature, cinema, theater, music, and the visual arts, driven by an enduring conviction that beauty, myth, and imagination served as universal languages. A central figure within the Parisian avant-garde, he moved fluidly among and collaborated with seminal modernists such as Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray—a circle of creators actively redefining modern thought through rigorous experimentation. His early collaboration with Picasso and Erik Satie on Parade (1917) for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes signaled a new epoch of interdisciplinary art, merging music, design, and performance into an imaginative whole.

Cocteau's visual art, defined by its clean, fluid line work, mythological motifs, and a serene, lyrical simplicity, balances classical elegance with modern abstraction. His monumental sacred murals for the Chapelle Saint-Pierre in Villefranche-sur-Mer and the Chapelle Saint-Blaise-des-Simples in Milly-la-Forêt represent some of the most significant achievements in sacred modern art. His contributions to cinema and literature are equally groundbreaking; his novels, including Les Enfants Terribles, and his theatrical and cinematic masterpieces like La Machine Infernale, Les Parents Terribles, La Belle et la Bête, Orphée, and Le Testament d'Orphée, pioneered a poetic cinematic vision that deeply informed subsequent generations of directors, from Federico Fellini and Jean-Luc Godard to David Lynch and Guillermo del Toro.

In the fields of fashion and costume, his collaborations with Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, and Elsa Schiaparelli fused high art and couture, while his intimate partnership and creative association with Jean Marais inspired some of his most profound works. Cocteau's work bridges classical mythology and modern psychology, dream and reality—an aesthetic legacy that continues to influence contemporary figures ranging from Andy Warhol and David Bowie to Alexander McQueen. His work is preserved in premier institutional collections worldwide, including the Centre Pompidou, the Musée Jean Cocteau in Menton, the Tate, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The enduring demand for his graphic and visual output is highlighted by his current auction record, achieved when Jean Marais dans "La Belle et la Bête" (1946) sold for 611,622 USD at Sotheby's Paris on October 18, 2023.