There is a French maxim that says "Style is the man." If there was ever an embodiment of that phrase, it was the French poet, novelist, playwright, filmmaker and artist Jean Cocteau. Considered one of the most creative talents of the 20th century, Cocteau's prodigious creativity is being currently showcased at the Bunkamura Museum in Shibuya in an exhibition dominated by his depictions of the male form.
The son of a wealthy family who enjoyed the freedom to follow his own creative muse, and who mixed and socialized with such creative minds as Picasso and Stravinsky, Cocteau's life appears to be one of effortless glamour, elegance and sophistication, an impression emphasized by the spontaneity of his artwork.
Although pictorial art was only one of the mediums he used to express himself, it naturally dominates the exhibition, which is only able to make a nod in the direction of his filmmaking and writing with a few stills from his films and some manuscript pages.
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