SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Jean Cocteau

Born : 1889Died : 1963Documented citizenships : France

Poet, painter, draughtsman, playwright and filmmaker, Jean Cocteau moved across several forms of expression throughout a career in which poetry stood alongside theatre, ballet and the visual arts. Born in Maisons-Laffitte in 1889, he died in Milly-la-Forêt in 1963. His first collection, La Lampe d’Aladin, was published at his own expense in 1909; it was inspired by One Thousand and One Nights. According to the biography consulted, his meeting with Serge de Diaghilev marked a turning point in his creative work: Cocteau then disavowed his first collections and moved closer to the Cubist and Futurist avant-gardes.

His collaborations with Russian artists led to the ballet Le Dieu bleu in 1912, followed by Parade, produced in 1917. For the latter, Pablo Picasso created the costumes and sets, while Erik Satie composed the music. In 1921, Cocteau worked with the Groupe des Six on the libretto for Les Mariés de la tour Eiffel, a collaborative work. Les Enfants terribles was published in 1929; the biography states that Cocteau wrote it in one week.

Works listed by the Art Institute of Chicago also offer points of reference for his visual practice: the portrait Sergei Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky is dated 1913, Nightmare (Cauchemar) around 1924, and Jean Desbordes 1928. The same page lists Frog, Mouse, Lizards, dated 1936, as well as Tender Homage to Mary Reynolds and Sphinx, both from 1955. Auction listings also describe drawings on paper. Jeune homme de profil is presented as a work in ink and blue pastel, accompanied by an autograph dedication; its dimensions are given as 18.5 × 11.5 cm. On the reverse of this drawing is an engraved self-portrait, signed and dated 1925 within the plate. Another listing describes Visage as a pastel on paper measuring 48 × 44.5 cm, dimensions measured within the sight, signed “Jean” and “Jean Cocteau”. It mentions a H. Dude collection in Basel, according to the label on the reverse, followed by private ownership in Switzerland.

This profile brings together identity references for Jean Cocteau and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

61 references are documented at Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer, Dobiaschofsky, Genève Enchères, Schuler, Piguet, Germann, Zofingen. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.

Works recorded at auction

Photograph : Genève Enchères · Enlarge image ↗

Genève Enchères · Lot 3178

Behind Closed Doors

Pencil on paper

Original catalogue wording

Huis clos
crayon sur papier

Catalogue period : 2026-04-27

Published result : 1900 CHF

Fees not specified in the available data

Estimate : CHF 1000–1500

Jean Cocteau

Works recorded at auction

Behind Closed Doors

Dancing Goat-Footed Figure

Middle Ages

Middle Ages

Young man in profile

Nude

Portrait de Raymond Radiguet,

Portrait

Face

Medieval profile with a tower

Woman reading poems

Harlequin

Left profile

Harper's Bazaar

"L'Epigone"

"Portrait de Jean Desbordes endormi"

Bathing Harlequin

Face in Profile

Face

Portrait

“Portrait of Hinano”.

Portrait of Hinano

Eagle

Falconer

Profiles

Profiles

The kiss

Faces linked by the eyes

Gala of the kings

Young man

Appogiatures

Head

Erotic — Two Men

Erotic scene — Two figures

Erotic

Face in Colour

Don Quixote

Self-portrait

The Human Voice

Orpheus with a lyre

Between Profiles with Arabesques

Left Profile

Saint Peter's Chapel

Marianne

Erotic — Two Men

Erotic scene

Profil d'Orphée aux arabesques, 1959

Portrait de Serge Lifar

Personnages et décors de ballets

Personnages à l'antique

Serge Lifar en faune

Autoportrait

Projet de scénographie pour Orphée

Orphée à la lyre et Eurydice dansant

Dancer

La danseuse

Lutteur

Orphée à la lyre et Eurydice dansant

La danseuse

References excluded from statistics: attributions and special lots

Young man

Atrocités — set of 2 caricatures

Sources and references

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