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Wax crayons on cardboard with a black background.
Original subject that was used for an exhibition affiche for the famous “Gallerie 65” in Cannes in 1961, Mourlot edition
Ref: LS119
The Innamorati series, created by Jean Cocteau in 1961, consists of burlesque-style drawings inspired by Commedia dell’arte. These playlets, featuring a fisherman and a Riviera woman, reflect on the theme of lovers’ folly, as mentioned in Cocteau’s 1938 letter to Jean Marais. The series, intended for his testament-museum in Menton, juxtaposes men and women in a dynamic, almost aggressive interplay, symbolizing a raw, Mediterranean attraction where sensuality is more pronounced than eroticism.
Cocteau’s technique involved laboriously layering wax crayons on black paper, emphasizing the importance of line over color. This method, exhausting yet invigorating for him, sought to capture the primitive and intense colors reminiscent of children’s art. He used “Neocolor 7000” by Caran d’Ache to achieve a vivid chromatic intensity in these works, blurring the lines between Fauvism, Expressionism, and Pop Art.
