In 1958, Jean Cocteau agreed, at the request of the elected representatives of Milly-la-Forêt, to decorate the small chapel of Saint Blaise, located on the outskirts of the village. For this former leper chapel, Cocteau drew inspiration from the medicinal plants, known as Simples, grown in Milly: marshmallow, belladonna, valerian, buttercup, colchicum, henbane, gentian and mint. These large colourful stems, stretching from the floor to the roof along the walls, surround a scene depicting the Resurrection of Christ.
Paying homage to Milly’s specialities, the artist repeated a monumental work, following on from those brilliantly executed in the south of France. The scene of the Resurrection of Christ is particularly striking, with its idea of souls ascending to heaven, while Cocteau suggests, through the epitaph engraved on the poet’s tombstone, ‘I remain with you’, that this is not the case for his work. Stained glass windows with anthropomorphic geometric motifs, designed by Cocteau and created by a German master glassmaker, complete the ensemble.
The chapel will open its doors to the public in June, after a complete restoration of the paintings.
Curators: GIP Maison Jean Cocteau, Muriel Genthon and Céline Delamotte
Scenography: Frédéric Beauclair
The musical worlds of Jean Cocteau
Some signs say: “Beware of painting”. I would add: Beware of music. Be on your guard! Be on your guard, for music is the only one of all the arts to be all around you.
Although he is known to music lovers as the “spiritual father” of the Groupe des Six, Jean Cocteau discovered, accompanied, and inspired the new musical forms of the twentieth century. It’s a Cocteau paradox: he is neither a composer nor a performer, yet he played an important role in the artistic movements of twentieth-century music.
Fascinated by the modernity of artistic expression, he could not leave out an art that, unlike almost all the others, he never practiced.
The exhibition presents the different forms that Jean Cocteau’s passion for music took. As a young man, he enjoyed accompanying his grandfather to Conservatoire concerts, where he discovered classical music. In 1913, Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring definitively transformed his perception of music: in the same way as literature and painting, music had to keep up with the modernity of the new century! Le Coq et l’Arlequin (1918) was a manifesto for French music that did not imitate the German music of Wagner or the Russian music of Stravinsky. With Erik Satie, music had to be “without sauce”. Jean Cocteau, the leader of the Groupe des Six, encouraged these young composers, fresh from the Conservatoire, to borrow from music hall and the circus. Jazz and chanson earned their stripes.
“In music, the line is the melody. A return to drawing will necessarily lead to a return to melody.”
Curator: Groupement d’intérêt public (GIP) Maison Jean Cocteau
Set design: Frédéric Beauclair