Jean Cocteau: The Juggler's Revenge

Exhibition at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 13 April - 16 September 2024

An emblematic figure on the French art scene of his time, Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) was an original and innovative artist. His circle included Peggy Guggenheim, Joséphine Baker, Coco Chanel, Sergueï Diaghilev, Édith Piaf, Pablo Picasso and Tristan Tzara. However, his outspoken homosexuality and opium addiction, which he never sought to conceal, left him in a precarious position within the avant-garde. A man of the French establishment but a subversive, Cocteau embodied the cultural, social and political contradictions of his time.

Bringing together over one hundred and fifty works in a wide variety of media - drawings, engravings, jewellery, tapestries, historical documents, books, magazines, photographs, documentaries and films directed by Cocteau - this exhibition catalogue traces the evolution of the unique and highly personal aesthetic of this multi-faceted artist, as well as the high points of his tumultuous career.