Jean Cocteau & Jean Marais, famous French couple

Jean Cocteau was a French artist in all possible avenues, willing to excel in everything, from writing poems, fiction, novels, theatre plays, to creating ceramics, drawings, paintings, frescas, as well as designs, sculpture and jewellery. He spent a major part of his life (25 years) with the French actor Jean Marais. Before Jean Marais, he had a strong relationship with the young talented writer Raymond Radiguet (Devel in the Flesh - Le Diable au Corps) and also with Edouard Dermit.

Jean Cocteau and Jean Marais at the beach - 1939

Jean Cocteau and Jean Marais - photo by Beaton

Born on July 5, 1889, he died aged 74, on Oct 11, 1963. As well summarized by Wikipedia : ''Jean Cocteau is best known for his novel Les Enfants Terribles (1929), and the films Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents Terribles (1948), Beauty and the Beast (1946) and Orpheus (1949). His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Yul Brynner, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky, María Félix, Édith Piaf, Panama Al Brown, Colette and Raymond Radiguet.''

Among other honors, Cocteau was made a member of the Academie Française in 1955, and at the Royal Academy in Belgium as well. Below is the picture of Jean Cocteau dressed in his French Academy suit designed by Lanvin, and with his sword designed by himself and handcrafted by Cartier.

Detail of sword handle

 Here are some sculptures, ceramics, potteries and jewellery made by Jean Cocteau.

photo Annick Puvilland

Faun - bronze medallion

 

Chevre- pied - bronze - 1958

     

Pecheur de perles - bronze - 1958

And I could not resist to add a few drawings, some from his Livre Blanc (the White book).
Jean Cocteau drawings have often been inspired by sea life, sailors, etc as seen in his Livre Blanc, and other drawings made for Querelle, famous book written by Jean Genet.

Jean Cocteau in Toulon - 1930

 

 

Jean Cocteau sculpture of a faun inspired by Jean Marais face

Jean Marais (1913-1988), his lover, after a successful career in movies then theater, became a ceramist and sculptor as well.

Jean Marais photographed by Raymond Voinquel

Here are some works from him. The first serie of pictures shows 'Le Passe Muraille' (Going through walls) life size bronze sculpture displayed in Paris, inspired by the book from Marcel Aymé.

Other sculptures from Jean Marais :      

head of Jean Cocteau sculpted by Jean Marais - bronze

head of Jean Cocteau sculpted by Jean Marais - terra cotta

Le Chantre

Arno Breker, German sculptor who did many males sculptures as we will see in another post, made both heads from Jean Cocteau and Jean Marais, as seen below.

Arno Breker bronze sculpture - 1963 - head of Jean Cocteau

Arno Breker bronze sculpture - 1963 - head of Jean Marais

Some links :

Several videos / documentaries about Jean Cocteau
http://www.cocteau-art.com/default_gb.html
http://www.jeancocteau.net/bio1_en.php
http://tetu.yagg.com/2009/11/22/le-couple-cocteau-marais-est-un-exemple-gay-aujourdhui-encore/
http://quintessentialpublications.com/twyman/?page_id=26

Gay male art galleries & museums : the Museum of Gay & Lesbian Art (MoGLA)

Today, male sculptures with a homoerotic/gay angle, and sculptures expressing male love, can also be seen in specialized art galleries and museums, either permanently or during specific shows and exhibitions, at least in USA and Europe, as we will see in some future posts.
 
Below contemporary male torso for example, has been done on marble by the American self-taught sculptor Douglas Holtquist, who is also an expert in the Ikebana art! (Japanese flower composition).
 
Holtquist work was displayed in the Spring 2008 edition of The Archive, which is the rich & interesting quarterly journal of the MoGLA.  MoGLA stands for Museum of Gay & Lesbian Art, the successful and patient tranformation of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation.


Douglas Holtquist - Male torso - Picture from Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation -The Archive Spring 2008



Cover of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation Spring 2008 edition of The Archive 

The first time I entered the Leslie-Lohman gay art foundation in New York (as it was called at that time, before to be transformed into the Mogla), was in the early 90's, twenty years ago, so well before I started sculpting. I was thrilled, as a young European man, to enter with my boyfriend in that building basement on Prince Street, to see so many drawings, paintings, watercolors, all gathered in one place, available to see, without commercial pressure and with such a gracious host.

We bought a very nice watercolor from Mc Willie Chambers that is still at our home today. We went back another year, still at their same initial location, and we bought another piece, from William Ronin, New York artist born in 1903.

In 2006, the foundation moved to a nice ground floor location on 26, Wooster Street (SoHo area). And has been transformed into the first Museum dedicated to Gay & Lesbian Art, officially recognized by the New York city.

 

The MoGLA main objective is to put together and exhibit art created by gay artists or art about gay world in general. The museum was created to provide a space for art that is clearly gay and frequently denied access to regular galleries, and regular exhinitions are programmed. This is facilitated by their impressive collection of 22000 paintings, drawings, photographies, prints and sculptures. Famous artists are part of it, like Andy Warhol, George Platt Lynes, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jean Cocteau etc.
                                     
The 2 L in the above logo come from Frederic "Fritz" Lohman and Charles W. Leslie. They collected art for many years, organized their first exhibition of gay art in their loft in 1969 to help artist's friends lacking a space to display their work. This was a big success. Then they opened their art gallery, which closed in the 1980s because of aids affecting many of these artists and gay customers. Their foundation was created in 1989.
Click on their website if you want to know more, visit them, etc.