Bill, was there a particular film, photograph, drawing, poem, novel, painting or audio recording by Jean Cocteau that drew you in to his orbit or was it more of a gradual accumulation? Is there a particular Cocteau work that stands out and/or that you return to for inspiration in the present day?
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I first came across Cocteau's work while at art college in the early 1960s. I found a book of Cocteau's screenplays in the college library.
I had seen 'Beauty and the Beast' as a child and remembered images from it, though, as a child, I had no idea who had made the film. That book of screenplays in the college library revealed that it was Cocteau's creation and led me to seek out more books about him and I was hooked.
Over the years I've amassed a huge number of Cocteau books, prints and memorabilia and even have a handwritten letter by him that he sent to someone who had sent him a poem. The letter is framed and on the wall of my dining room, although the ink has now become very faded due to it's age.
Sounds like "The Eagle has Two Heads", Tourist...
https://literariness.org/2019/05/16/analysis-of-jean-cocteaus-plays/