Le potomak

THE POTOMAK Rights sold to Spain (Cabaret Voltaire) Jean Cocteau said of this most unusual book: "My work begins with Potomak; it's a sort of preface." This hybrid piece - with its alternating drawings and text, and its complete freedom of form - was composed at the dawn of World War I, and the artist would always view it as his first real book. In fact, it is in this work that he pronounces the famous epigram which could have been his motto: "Ce que le public te reproche, cultive-le, c'est toi." ("Whatever the public criticises in you is the thing you should cultivate, it's you.") Based on the definitive edition established by the author in 1924, this surprising and entertaining work includes many illustrations, including the little known " Eugènes", and of course the "Potomak", a monstrous inhabitant of an aquarium in Paris, a bearer of poetry and allegorical messages. Jean Cocteau (1889 - 1963) was a prolific and bafflingly versatile artist. As a graphic artist, designer, playwright, filmmaker and writer, and a close friend of many major European creators (from Picasso to Coco Chanel via Marcel Proust), he numbers among those who influenced an era. From amongst his tumultuous personal relationships and his critically acclaimed artistic collaborations, one particularly notable example was the work that brought him together with Raymond Radiguet to write Le Diable au corps. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his death, éditions Stock will be republishing several of the artist's books.

Jean Cocteau (Auteur) - Verschenen op 29/05/2013 bij Stock