Jean Cocteau | |
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 Cocteau in 1923 | |
| Born | Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau 5 July 1889 Maisons-Laffitte, France |
| Died | 11 October 1963 (aged 74) Milly-la-Forêt, France |
| Other names | The Frivolous Prince |
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| Years active | 1908–1963 |
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| Website | jeancocteau |
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| French and Francophone literature |
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Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (UK: /ˈkɒktoʊ/ KOK-toh, US: /kɒkˈtoʊ/ kok-TOH; French: [ʒɑ̃ mɔʁis øʒɛn klemɑ̃ kɔkto]; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost artists of the surrealist, avant-garde, and Dadaist movements and an influential figure in early 20th-century art.[1] The National Observer suggested that, "of the artistic generation whose daring gave birth to Twentieth Century Art, Cocteau came closest to being a Renaissance man."[2]
He is best known for his novels Le Grand Écart (1923), Le Livre blanc (1928), and Les Enfants Terribles (1929); the stage plays La Voix Humaine (1930), La Machine Infernale (1934), Les Parents terribles (1938), La Machine à écrire (1941), and L'Aigle à deux têtes (1946); and the films The Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents Terribles (1948), Beauty and the Beast (1946), Orpheus (1950), and Testament of Orpheus (1960), which alongside Blood of a Poet and Orpheus constitute the so-called Orphic Trilogy. He was described as "one of [the] avant-garde's most successful and influential filmmakers" by AllMovie.[3] Cocteau, according to Annette Insdorf, "left behind a body of work unequalled for its variety of artistic expression."[2]
Though his body of work encompassed many different mediums, Cocteau insisted on calling himself a poet, classifying the great variety of his works – poems, novels, plays, essays, drawings, films – as "poésie", "poésie de roman", "poésie de thêatre", "poésie critique", "poésie graphique" and "poésie cinématographique".[4]
- ^ "Jean Cocteau". www.artnet.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Jean Cocteau". Poetry Foundation. 28 December 2021. Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ^ "Biography". AllMovie. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
- ^ Francis Steegmuller "Jean Cocteau: A Brief Biography", Jean Cocteau and the French Scene, Abbeville Press 1984