Jean COCTEAU (1889-1963) "The Sphinx" 1939 Ink... Lot 144

Jean COCTEAU (1889-1963) "The Sphinx" 1939 Ink and pastel drawing Dated 1939 lower right Signed and autographed in 1943 bottom left 54 x 43 cm This beautiful drawing of very surrealist inspiration is linked to a small series of works that COCTEAU made in 1939. We find in each of them the 3 pyramids, the Sphinx, and the guard with the spear, sometimes a soldier draped in an antique style, sometimes a young woman elegantly dressed in an evening gown. Such is the case here. In 1945, COCTEAU was commissioned to draw a picture for the American magazine HARPER'S BAAZAR. He will take up the idea of a sphinx wearing around its neck a necklace of precious stones and, engraved in the stone of the base of the sphinx the name HARPER'S.