Accession Number
2008/2.198.2

Title
Jean Cocteau and Sphinx

Artist(s)
Lucien Clergue

Artist Nationality
French (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1955, printed 2006

Medium & Support
gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
12 in x 16 in (30.48 cm x 40.64 cm);16 in x 20 in (40.64 cm x 50.8 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Jeffrey and Elena Sobel

Subject matter
This is a portrait of Jean Cocteau. Clergue and Jean Cocteau began a lasting friendship when Clergue sent photographs to Cocteau in 1956 at Picasso’s suggestion. Their friendship would end with Cocteau’s death in 1963. In 1959 Clergue worked with Cocteau to produce a photographic record of Cocteau's film Le Testament d’Orphée in Les Baux-de-Provence, Nice, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, and Villefranche-sur-Mer. In this image, Cocteau stands in front of a wall, the sphinx from the set of the film behind him. Cocteau wears artificial eyes, a prop seen throughout his film.

Physical Description
A photograph of a man wearing artificial eyes, standing in front of a wall. Beyond the wall, a sphinx figure can be seen in front of a mountain range.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
film directors
men (male humans)
mountains
portraits
props (object genres)
screen writers
sphinxes