Le Conseil de Revision

Details

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)
Le Conseil de Revision
pen and ink on paper
9 7/8 x 8¼ in. (25 x 20.9 cm.)

Provenance

Private collection, France, probably acquired directly from the artist.
Private collection, London, by descent from the above.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Lot Essay

The Comité Jean Cocteau has confirmed the authenticity of this work.

Pictured here, entering the scene to the centre of the composition, is Serge de Diaghilev, the Russian patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes. In Paris, Diaghilev was in the company of an influential gay network which included Marcel Proust and the young Jean Cocteau among others. In his drawing Le Conseil de Revision, Cocteau playfully reflects on Diaghilev’s role in their milieu by portraying Diaghilev in his big fur-collared coat with a cane to be the inspector recruiting the young men for the military service.

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