Although one of the most versatile artists of the twentieth century, Jean Cocteau considered himself to be primarily, even solely, a poet. Hence, for him, his works in other genres were all poetry:

poésie de roman

[novelistic poetry],

poésie de théâtre

[theatrical poetry] and even

poésie de critique

[critical poetry], or, stretching the point yet further,

poésie graphique

[graphic poetry] and

poésie cinématographique

[cinematographic poetry]. As these last two categories indicate, his activities extended beyond the field of literature: his style in drawing and painting owes something to both Picasso and Matisse, but remains individual and skilful, even if his artistic achievement does not match his literary work; the cinema was a lifelong interest, although all but one of the…

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Citation: Connon, Derek Frederick. "Jean Cocteau". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 August 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=933, accessed 19 March 2024.]

933 Jean Cocteau 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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