Jean Cocteau, french poet/movie director/writer/sculptor/painter. The french call him The prince of poets...and they are right! Cocteau is one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century.
As a movie director and actor on some of his films he achieved success with films like Le sang d'un Poète (Blood of a poet), Orphee (Orpheus) and La belle et la Bête (Beauty and the beast). Not forgeting Le testament d'Orphee (The testament of Orpheus).-My favorite movie of ever!
As a writer, Cocteau wrote La voix humaine (The human voice), Toro!, Orphee and Opium.
JEAN COCTEAU (1889-1963)
BIOGRAPHY:
1889 (5 July): Born in Paris (Marthe, his sister is born in 1877 and his brother Paul in 1881).
1899: Cocteau's first tragedy: his father Georges Cocteau suicides.
1900: Goes to school: lycée Condorcet near the city of Monthiers.
1904: Goes to lycée Fénelon.
1909: Publication of a first set of poems: 'La lampe d'Aladin'.
1910: Publication of a second set of poems: 'Le prince frivole'. At the age of 21 meets Stravinsky and Diaghilev.
1912: Publication of 'La dame de Sophocle', his third poetry book.
1914: The war begins and the army refuses Cocteau, but although he joins a civil group to bring back the hounded men from the front (Reims and Nieuport).
1915: Meets Érik Satie and Roland Garros.
1916: Meets Picasso, Blaise Cendrars, Apollinaire, Modigliani and Max Jacob.
1917: Creates 'Parade' for the Russian ballet: the models was designed by Picasso and the music was composed by Satie.
1918: Foundation of Éditions de la siréne, together with Cendrars. 'Le coq et l'arlequin': a music essay illustrated by Picasso. Cocteau meets the young writer Raymond Radiguet .
1919: 'Le cap de bonne-espérance' (poems dedicated to Roland Garros). 'Ode to Picasso'.
1920: Directs 'Le boeuf sur la toit' in the Champs-Élysées - a mime show with music by Darius Milhaud.
1921: Directs 'Les mariés de la tour Eiffel' (a ballet-divertissement) on the Champs-Élysées, for Rolf de Maré's 'Ballets suédois', with the collaboration of a group of French composers known as Les six (Germaine Taillefer, Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc). The surrealists, guided by Andre Breton, interrupts the performance with shouting and insults. Breton casts Cocteau away from the surrealistic ideals, due to Cocteau's homosexuality and for his best-selling books.
1922: 'Antígone': theater play; 'Vocabulaire': poetry; 'Le secret professionnel': poetry essay; 'Discours du grand sommeil': poetry
1923: 'Le grand écart': novel 'Plain-chant': poetry; 'Thomas l'imposteur': novel
1924: Experiences opium. 'Poésie 1916-1923'; 'Roméo et Juliette': theater play;
1925: First opium desintoxication. Dissension with the surrealists. 'L'ange heurtebise': poetry 'Le mystère de Jean l'oiseleur': graphic work (self-portrait)
*This page is still under construction....come back later...
Links to other sites on the Web
Amazon-1,000,000 books
Surrealism Server
Manifestos
Felt and Denim home page
If you want to help me I'll ask you one thing...try to see Cocteau's movies and read some of his books....success garanteed!
'Venize at night lying in the bottom of a river like a fat lady all covered with jewels and bathing on a tub'-Jean Cocteau
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