Le Livre Blanc - SOLD

The ink drawing Le Livre Blanc is an artwork by Jean Cocteau , French draftsman, poet, essayist, playwright, librettist, film director, and actor, who lived from 1889 to 1963.

The artwork was drawn on yellowish paper, Canson e Mongolfier water-marked, probably torn away from a block, because it presents some fringes on the left margin of the piece of paper. On the lower right, there is the usual signature of the author in ink for this series of drawings: “ Jean ” followed by a five-point star.  There are some shadings with charcoal pencil and, in pencil on the higher right of the back, an inscription with the number “9”. On the back, on the right margin of the paper, a thin strip of paper is attached. On the left margin of the back, a small piece of paper tape is applied, sticking out from the sheet about 1 cm. The drawing is in good conditions of preservation, despite small fungal foxing.

The work, hailing from the Roman collection of the noble family Pecci Blunt , is one of the illustrations drawn by Jean Cocteau for his novel titled Livre Blanc , published for the first time in 1928 anonymously, and then re-published for the Éditions du Signe, Paris, in 1930 and enriched with his illustrations. This is a self-biographical novel, in which the author tells his first erotic experiences and the gradual acknowledgement of his homosexuality. For this reason, the novel provoked a scandal, but was also much appreciated. Very likely, Cocteau never claimed explicitly to be the author of the text, though he still wrote the preface and signed the illustrations.

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SKU
M-101757
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The ink drawing Le Livre Blanc is an artwork by Jean Cocteau , French draftsman, poet, essayist, playwright, librettist, film director, and actor, who lived from 1889 to 1963.

The artwork was drawn on yellowish paper, Canson e Mongolfier water-marked, probably torn away from a block, because it presents some fringes on the left margin of the piece of paper. On the lower right, there is the usual signature of the author in ink for this series of drawings: “ Jean ” followed by a five-point star.  There are some shadings with charcoal pencil and, in pencil on the higher right of the back, an inscription with the number “9”. On the back, on the right margin of the paper, a thin strip of paper is attached. On the left margin of the back, a small piece of paper tape is applied, sticking out from the sheet about 1 cm. The drawing is in good conditions of preservation, despite small fungal foxing.

The work, hailing from the Roman collection of the noble family Pecci Blunt , is one of the illustrations drawn by Jean Cocteau for his novel titled Livre Blanc , published for the first time in 1928 anonymously, and then re-published for the Éditions du Signe, Paris, in 1930 and enriched with his illustrations. This is a self-biographical novel, in which the author tells his first erotic experiences and the gradual acknowledgement of his homosexuality. For this reason, the novel provoked a scandal, but was also much appreciated. Very likely, Cocteau never claimed explicitly to be the author of the text, though he still wrote the preface and signed the illustrations.

More Information
SKU
M-101757
Artist
Jean Cocteau
Typology
Original Drawings
Technique
Drawing, Drawing-Charcoal, Drawing-Ink
Period
1930s
Conditions
Good (minor cosmetic wear)
Dimensions (cm)
26.8 x 0.1 x 21.1
More about Jean Cocteau