Jun 04, 2019 - Sale 2511

Sale 2511 - Lot 95

Price Realized: $ 2,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
JEAN COCTEAU.
"Milan." Set design for Cocteau's 1938 stage play adaptation of his work Les Parents Terribles. Gouache and crayon on canvas. 343x413 mm; 13 1/2x16 1/4 inches. Initialed and titled in lower margin. Framed. Provenance: Collection of William Emboden.
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Les Parents Terribles premiered at the Théâtre des Ambassadeurs in Paris and, despite a successful reception, its run was quickly terminated amid accusations of immorality and moved to another theater. The inflammatory story of complicated love triangles within the same family circle suffered a rocky performance history including a mounted campaign against Cocteau that resulted in rats and tear gas released into what would become its permanent home, the Théâtre du Gymnase. By 1946, undeterred, and with increasingly strong public attendance, Cocteau eventually formed his ideal cast. The production was so successful that he wrote the screenplay and directed a film version in 1948. Cocteau specialists Tony Clark and William Emboden believe this to be Cocteau's only painted set design.