Dessin original de Jean Cocteau adressé à Carole Weisweiller

Original drawing signed « Jean », inscribed to « Caro », very likely Carole Weisweiller, dated by the author September 11, 1963, with the autograph address of his home at « Milly »-La-Forêt. A drawing of Orpheus accompanies 8 lines in red and pink felt pen on a watermarked "La Couronne" sheet.

Drawing and inscription uniformly sunned, horizontal folds from posting, fold to upper left margin, lower left corner slightly chipped with minor tears. 

This characteristically Coctelian drawing of Orpheus in profile was executed one month before the poet's death on October 11, 1963. He writes: « à ma bien chère Caro » and alludes to his declining health, « encore bien malade »,  at the foot of the sheet, beside the star that customarily accompanies his signature.

For over a decade, Jean Cocteau regularly stayed at the Villa Santo Sospir in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat with his spiritual family, the Weisweillers. Carole was eight when she first met the poet. In the summer months, aboard the family yacht which the artist named "Orphée II," Cocteau would regale young « Caro » with stories, even writing a tale specially for her: La croisière aux émeraudes. This idyll came to an end in the summer of 1962, when Francine Weisweiller and Jean Cocteau quarrelled. The artist departed from the family on poor terms, though the friendship was not irreparably broken. On October 11, 1963, « Jeannot (Jean Marais), followed by Carole and Francine, were the first to learn » of the Prince of Poets' passing (L'homme et les miroirs, Béhar, Kihm and Sprigge).

A poignant drawing by Jean Cocteau, addressed most probably to his spiritual daughter, Carole Weisweiller. The faded colours of the sheet, due to light exposure, heighten the nostalgic character of this final portrait of Cocteau-Orpheus, his face already turned towards Olympus.