Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)

The Comité Jean Cocteau has confirmed the authenticity of this work.

Pictured here, entering the scene to the centre of the composition, is Serge de Diaghilev, the Russian patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes. In Paris, Diaghilev was in the company of an influential gay network which included Marcel Proust and the young Jean Cocteau among others. In his drawing Le Conseil de Revision, Cocteau playfully reflects on Diaghilev’s role in their milieu by portraying Diaghilev in his big fur-collared coat with a cane to be the inspector recruiting the young men for the military service.