To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Jean Cocteau on October 11, 1963, the Ministry of Culture and Communication offers visitors an evocation around the life and work of the writer, in the garden of the Palais-Royal and under the peristyle of Valois.

The Centre des monuments nationaux presents «Jean Cocteau, a poet at the Palais-Royal», an exhibition of photographs in the gardens.
These photographs trace the links between the writer and this place where he lived for fifteen years. The Palais-Royal is a village for those who have chosen to live there,” he said.

Under the peristyle, the Ministry of Culture and Communication places the emphasis on the «multiform» work of the talented and prolific artist Jean Cocteau.
It thus offers to the vision of the general public a film that retraces his multiple talents, from writing to cinema, drawing, theatre sets, the creation of stained glass windows or jewellery.
A nod to the genius of the artist, this 11-minute film is projected on the departmental windows, 14 metres long.
In the Valois Gallery, the Ministry also presents 14 lithographs from the collections of the Jean Cocteau Museum, Séverin Wunderman Collection in Menton, which illustrate the influence of the Mediterranean on his work as well as photographs by Jean Cocteau from the background of Agence France Presse.

«Jean Cocteau, a poet at the Royal Palace» is exhibited until 12 January 2014.

«The tribute to Jean Cocteau» the Department’s film and display windows are available at the same times until December 11, 2013.

Jardin du Palais-Royal, access via 3, rue de Valois, Paris 1st
Free exhibitions, accessible every day from 7.30am to 8.30pm

 

«Jean Cocteau, a poet at the Palais-Royal» 

This exhibition was supported by Berluti.

Photographers:

- Robert Cohen, humanist photographer, former Director of the Agence d'Illustration pour la Presse (AGIP).

- Pierre Jahan, photographer-reporter for Plaisir de France magazine for 40 years. His work of deep humanity also allows for recreational fantasies by flirting with Surrealism.

- Serge Lido will photograph the greatest figures in cinema, theatre and dance for nearly half a century.

- Herbert List asserts his artistic leanings towards the European avant-garde at the beginning of his career and adheres to the surrealist movement. In the 1950s, he maintained a close relationship with cinema and painted portraits of many artists.

- Lee Miller, muse of Surrealism, muse and model of Man Ray, is best known for her glamorous portraits and surrealist works using the solarization process.

- Jean Mangeot and François Pages, photographers – reporters for Paris Match. They made a report on Jean Cocteau during his election to the Académie Française.

- Pierre Vals produced a report on Jean Cocteau at the request of Éditions Larousse.

«The tribute to Jean Cocteau» the film and the display of the windows

This film by Nicolas Patrzynski was supported by the Jean Cocteau Committee, the Menton Museum, the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris, the Ina, and the National Academy of Metz.

The photographs exhibited:

- Jean Cocteau sitting at his desk in his home in Milly-la-Forêt. Milly-la-Forêt, 3 September 1963.

- Jean Cocteau and Marlène Dietrich after a show at the Théâtre de l'Etoile, Paris, 27 November 1959.

- Jean Cocteau, Honorary President of the Cannes Film Festival, attends a screening with Romy Schneider and his mother Magda. Cannes, 5 May 1959.

- Jean Cocteau and Charles Trenet congratulate Charles Aznavour on his triumphal return to the Alhambra in Paris on 13 December 1960.

- Jean Cocteau with works which he exhibited in a Parisian gallery. Paris, 14 November 1958.

- Jean Cocteau, in front of the fresco he painted inside the Menton wedding hall. Menton, 27 September 1957.

- Jean Cocteau at the Académie Française. Paris, 20 October 1955.