Jean Cocteau - Design & Design Art New York Thursday, December 13, 2007 | Phillips

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  • Catalogue Essay

    In 1916, Jean Cocteau made the acquaintance of Pablo Picasso, whose insight and creative energy would have a deep impact on Cocteau’s work.  Picasso taught Cocteau that there were no limits to an artist’s means of expression, a sentiment echoed in Cocteau’s multiple careers as a writer, filmmaker, art critic and artist.  In addition, Cocteau was enamored of Cubism and wrote much art criticism on the movement, praising its new perspective of representation.  The style would prove to influence Cocteau’s work, with the characters in his writings often taking almost no shape, rejecting individualism and remaining loosely identifiable.  In his films, the dialogue remained sparse and uniquely restrained of emotion.  This reassessment of traditional representation would be evident in his drawings, ceramics, and objects such as the present lot, wherein Cocteau’s characteristic style is present in the swift outlines of figures and the reluctance to clearly define them.

169

Rare triple level server

1950s
Painted plastic, hand-painted metal, plastic.
Outer surface of trays signed “Jean Cocteau” twice and underside of base molded “TRIPLE LEVEL SERVER” and “PAT. NO. 7205 APP. 729;730.”

Estimate
$2,000 - 3,000 

Sold for $875

Design & Design Art

13 Dec 2007, 2pm
New York