Autographed letter signed to Suzanne Odé.
One of Cocteau's last letters, written ten days before his death and containing two superb drawings.
"I had to undergo a surgical transplant. I'm in hiding."
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Jean Cocteau (1889.1963)
Autographed letter signed to Suzanne Odé.
One page in quarto. Autograph envelope.
Milly-la-Forêt. October 1, 1963.
"I had to undergo a surgical transplant. I'm in hiding."
One of Cocteau's last letters, written ten days before his death and bearing two superb felt-tip pen drawings: a rose and the all-seeing eye, a moving premonition of his imminent death.
"My dearest little Ode, fortunately far removed from Claudel's 'great odes.' Despite this pause to which I condemn myself, weary of illness, remedies, and doctors, your bouquets, swollen with the only tenderness that heals, are brought to me. To tell the truth, the antibiotics had poisoned the left side of my face, and I had to undergo a surgical graft. I am hiding. But not from you, and I kiss you. Jean Cocteau "
On Friday, October 11, 1963, Édith Piaf and then Jean Cocteau passed away within hours of each other. On this strange day of "double national mourning" which would shake the whole of France, a long friendship forged over more than twenty years came to an end – a friendship that would last a lifetime.
This drawing has been authenticated by Ms. Annie Guedras.