Venice gives space to the work of Jean Cocteau

With the exhibition ‘Jean Cocteau. The juggler’s revenge, Peggy Guggenheim Collection Of Venice pays homage to one of the most influential authors of the avant-garde and Parisian artistic life of the twentieth century. Scheduled until September 16ththe personal exhibition sheds light on the versatility that characterizes the Cocteau’s artistic language. From graphic works to tapestries, from photographs to films, over one hundred and fifty works retrace the career of an artist who was decidedly not inclined to labels.

Poet, playwright, novelist, designer, visual artist and art critic, Cocteau was a creator of astonishing prolificacy. Although his ‘corpus’ of works includes a wide spectrum of artistic expressions, the author loved to define himself first and foremost as a ‘poet’, classifying the great variety of his production into poems, novels, plays, essays, drawings and films. Thanks to his extreme versatility and his continuous experimentations he soon became a key figure on the Parisian art scene alongside Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, Sergej Djagilev, Edith Piaf, Pablo Picasso and Tristan Tzara.

Edited by Kenneth E. Silver, the exhibition itinerary unfolds around a series of chapters that touch on the main themes at the center of Cocteau’s work. This is the case, among others, of Orpheus, character with whom the author identifies deeply to the point of adapting the story several times both for theater and cinema. The mirror, the protagonist of the first room, is followed by some forays into the ancient world as it is ‘The bathrooms’ And ‘The blood of a poet’.

However, a fundamental element of the author’s career remains his relationship with Peggy Guggenheim and Venice. In the section ‘Jean & Peggy’ we find a selection of works exhibited in 1938, on the occasion of the inauguration of the London gallery of the Maecenas, as well as a series of drawings of gondoliers and famous buildings of the lagoon city. Between the end of the 40s and the beginning of the 50s, the artist regularly participated in the Film Festival both as an author and as a spectator. During his stays in Venice he also promoted Murano glass production, collaborating with Egidio Costantini and his ‘Forge of Angels’.

There is also a section linked to Cocteau’s relationship with the advertising world which highlights the influence he had on the likes of Andy Warhol, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Pedro Almodóvar. Also on display ‘The Academic Sword by Jean Cocteau’, used in 1955 in the ceremony awarding the artist the title of ‘Academic of France’. Made by Cartier in gold and silver with emeralds, rubies, diamonds, ivory, onyx and enamel, the sword was forged based on the artist’s original design. The exhibition, made possible thanks to the generous support of Cartier as ‘main sponsor’, is accompanied by a rich illustrated catalog published by Marsilio Arte.