Jean Cocteau

Medium: Screenprint in colors on paper
Year: 1985
Sheet: 38 1/2 x 32 inches (97.8 x 81.3 cm)
Edition: 250
Printer: Rupert Jasen Smith, New-York
Publisher: Andy Warhol, New-York
Literature: Feldman & Schellmann II.329A

Signed in pencil lower right and with the artist’s inkstamp (recto)
Numbered in pencil lower left

Commissioned to commemorate the opening of the Severin Wunderman Foundation in Irvine, California dedicated to the collection of Jean Cocteau memorabilia

 

 

Jean Cocteau was specifically commissioned to commemorate the opening of The Severin Wunderman Foundation in Irvine, California, which was dedicated to collecting Jean Cocteau memorabilia.

Jean Cocteau depicts the French artist in a graphic, Pop Art style, reflecting Warhol’s admiration for his boundary-pushing predecessor. The image is based on an older publicity photograph of Cocteau from 1923, used for a book cover published 20 years after his death. Warhol uses a bold, graphic style with bright, “pop” colors and reductive lines, characteristic of his later works. The composition employs repetition and a flattened perspective, often seen in various color combinations across the edition, as was Warhol’s signature practice.

Cocteau (1889-1963) was a prolific and influential French artist, filmmaker, and writer who pioneered work across various mediums. Warhol saw Cocteau as an iconic figure and an openly gay predecessor who paved the way for artists like himself.

Warhol’s earlier drawings from the 1950s showed a clear influence from Cocteau’s fluid, simple lines. This later print explicitly acknowledges that connection between two major 20th-century artists. Consistent with his broader body of work, Warhol treated Cocteau’s image like that of other celebrities (such as Marilyn Monroe or Prince), turning the artist’s likeness into a cultural icon via mass-produced screen printing. By using a mass-production technique and basing the image on a book cover photo, Warhol blurs the lines between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture, a central theme in Pop Art.

 

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Auction Results

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Il Ponte Casa d’Aste: 26 November 2025
Estimated: EUR 1,000 – 1,500
EUR 3,000 (Hammer)
EUR 3,840 / USD 4,460

ANDY WARHOL ( Pittsburgh 1928 – New York 1987 )
“Jean Cocteau” (Feldman & Schellmann II.329A), 1985
Color silkscreen
Signed and numbered 145/250
Stamped with the artist’s ink stamp in the lower right corner
Published by the artist to commemorate the opening of the Severin Wunderman Foundation in Irvine

Rago: 5 June 2025
Estimated: USD 5,000 – 7,000
USD 4,826

Bonhams Los Angeles: 29 March 2022
Estimated: USD 4,000 – 6,000
USD 9,562

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Jean Cocteau (Feldman & Schellmann II.329A), 1985
Screenprint in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil and with the artist’s inkstamp (recto)
A bon a tirer (aside from the edition of 250)