COCTEAU Jean (1889-1963)

Homage to Antonio Gaudi, autograph poem, [1953]; 1 page folio. And 1 autograph letter signed. First draft and working draft of this poem. The manuscript, in pencil and blue ballpoint pen, is extensively crossed out and corrected. This poem, of three quatrains, was conceived on July 14, 1953, during Cocteau's stay in Barcelona: "I would like to add to my tributes, a tribute to Antonio Gaudi, the architect of Barcelona" (Le Passé défi ni, II, p. 195). It was collected, with variants, in Clair-obscur (1954), in the section of "Spanish tributes and poems". Beautiful tribute to the great Catalan architect, Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926). "You the form so lazy tortured Forcing it to the beautiful ugliness of the loves Inexplicable except by this narrow door Of the passions of a soul to the sinuous detours" ... Autograph letter signed "Jean Cocteau", Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat 12 March 1952, [to Georges PIOCH]; 1 page in-8. He returns the book "that you were kind enough to give to Olivier [Larronde] for me. Everything that comes from the Indies fascinates me because they possess the true science, the only one that counts" ... Attached is a book by Abanindranath Tagore, Sadanga ou les Six Canons de la Peinture hindoue, trans. Andrée Karpelès (Paris, Bossard, 1922; in-12 uncropped, cover missing), with the name and address of Danièle Larronde on the title page.