Sale 2578 | Lot 14
Additional images and condition
Sale 2578 - Lot 14
JEAN COCTEAU (1889-1963)
Jean Genet * Marcel Khill * Jean Desbordes.
Together, four portraits on three sheets. Genet: Pencil on paper. 65x209 mm; 6 1/2x4 1/4 inches on 10 1/2x8 1/4-inch sheet. Cocteau estate stamp in lower right corner.
Khill is ink on board, two-sided (one damaged). 270x210 mm; 10 3/4x8 1/4 inches. Portrait on rear (with camel) is abraded along top 1/4.
Desbordes is pencil, ink, and wash. 330x263 mm; 13x10 inches. Cocteau estate stamp in lower right corner.
Provenance: Chevalier Tony Clark Collection.
Condition:
Generally quite good, with strong inking. Any mild surface issues including soft creasing or, with Khill, slight abrasion, visible in condition report images.
A nice group of portraits of three figures with whom Cocteau was close. He supported Genet's writing, published his first novel, and introduced him to Jean-Paul Sartre and the Paris literary circles. The Algerian Marcel Khill was Cocteau's secretary and his lover before Khill died in WWII. They travelled the world together in 1936, emulating Jules Verne's novel "Around the World in 80 Days." Desbordes was Cocteau's lover, artistic model, and secretary in the 1920s, who would also die in WWII.
