Rights sold to Spain (Cabaret Voltaire)
Jean Cocteau said of this most unusual book: “My work begins with Potomak; it’s a sort of preface.” This hybrid piece – with its alternating drawings and text, and its complete freedom of form – was composed at the dawn of World War I, and the artist would always view it as his first real book. In fact, it is in this work that he pronounces the famous epigram which could have been his motto: “Ce que le public te reproche, cultive-le, c'est toi.” (“Whatever the public criticises in you is the thing you should cultivate, it’s you.”)
Based on the definitive edition established by the author in 1924, this surprising and entertaining work includes many illustrations, including the little known “ Eugènes”, and of course the “Potomak”, a monstrous inhabitant of an aquarium in Paris, a bearer of poetry and allegorical messages.
Jean Cocteau (1889 – 1963) was a prolific and bafflingly versatile artist. As a graphic artist, designer, playwright, filmmaker and writer, and a close friend of many major European creators (from Picasso to Coco Chanel via Marcel Proust), he numbers among those who influenced an era. From amongst his tumultuous personal relationships and his critically acclaimed artistic collaborations, one particularly notable example was the work that brought him together with Raymond Radiguet to write Le Diable au corps.
On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his death, éditions Stock will be republishing several of the artist’s books.
« Les Eugènes, le Potomak, le papillon, je n’ai pas su pourquoi je les créais, ni quel rapport pouvait au juste s’établir entre eux. Architecture secrète. “Que préparez-vous ?” me demanda Canche. Je rougis.
Impossible de lui répondre. »
De ce livre singulier Jean Cocteau déclara : « Mon oeuvre commence avec Le Potomak ; c’est une sorte de préface. » En effet, cette oeuvre hybride, alternant dessins et textes, d’une liberté absolue de forme, fut composée à l’aube de la Première Guerre mondiale, et l’artiste la tiendra toujours pour son authentique premier livre. On y retrouve d’ailleurs le célèbre aphorisme dont il aurait pu faire sa devise : « Ce que le public te reproche, cultive-le, c’est toi. »
Fondé sur l’édition définitive établie par l’auteur en 1924, cet ouvrage surprenant et divertissant recueille de nombreuses illustrations tels les méconnus « Eugènes », et, bien sûr, le « Potomak », monstrueux pensionnaire d’un aquarium à Paris, porteur de poésie et de messages allégoriques.
L'auteur
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