Jean Cocteau FS. II 329A by Andy Warhol was created in 1985 and is a tribute to Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau, the influential French poet, novelist, playwright, artist, and filmmaker. Cocteau is widely remembered for his novel Les Enfants Terribles (1929) and a series of groundbreaking films, including The Blood of a Poet (1930), Beauty and the Beast (1946), Les Parents Terribles (1948), and Orpheus (1949). Much like Warhol, Cocteau was deeply immersed in the creative elite of his time, forming close connections with figures such as Pablo Picasso, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, and Igor Stravinsky. He played a significant role in the avant-garde movement of the early 20th century, pushing boundaries across disciplines and cultivating a persona that blended celebrity and artistry.

Warhol’s Jean Cocteau FS. II 329A was commissioned by the Severin Wunderman Foundation, an organization dedicated to collecting and preserving memorabilia related to Cocteau’s life and work. The portrait features a minimalist aesthetic, with Cocteau’s facial features rendered in delicate outlines against a soft pastel background. This restrained approach allows the essence of Cocteau’s character to come through without distraction, emphasizing Warhol’s skill in capturing the iconic with simplicity.

Within Warhol’s broader body of work, Jean Cocteau FS.II 329A represents his continued fascination with cultural icons—individuals who shaped not just their disciplines, but also the cultural zeitgeist of their time. Warhol saw Cocteau as a visionary whose creative reach and self-styled persona echoed his own approach to fame and artistic legacy. This portrait, one of several Warhol created of Cocteau, is based on a publicity photograph that was used in conjunction with a book honoring Cocteau two decades after his death.

Warhol’s depiction of Cocteau is more than a portrait; it is an homage from one multidisciplinary artist to another, linking two creative eras through shared values of innovation, celebrity, and artistic reinvention.

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