Jean Cocteau - “oedipus’ Head” - Original Graphite Drawing

Original signed drawing by Jean Cocteau (1889–1963). Head of Oedipus.

Graphite drawing executed around 1960, bearing the studio’s stamp. Dimensions: 21 x 13.5 cm. Cataloged in the Guédras archives and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Annie Guédras, an expert on the work of Jean Cocteau.

Oedipus, along with Orpheus, constitutes the defining myth of Jean Cocteau’s universe. As early as the 1920s, the poet took up this figure from Greek tragedy to explore the themes of fate, the gaze, and truth. He devoted Oedipus Rex (1926), the libretto for Igor Stravinsky’s opera-oratorio (Oedipus Rex, 1927), and then his theatrical masterpiece, La Machine infernale (1934).

Around 1960, during the final period of his life—which coincided with his creation of large-scale decorative ensembles on the French Riviera—Cocteau synthesized his personal pantheon through a refined, continuous line. In this Head of Oedipus, the graphite pencil traces a striking visual metamorphosis: the eyes projected outward from the face onto upright stalks evoke Oedipus’s self-mutilation as he gouges out his own eyes, but also the birth of a “second sight”—that of the seer or poet who renounces earthly vision to access the mystery.

Illustrated (image not provided): Jean Cocteau circa 1957 by André Villers and on the set of his last film, Le Testament d’Orphée (1960).