Lucien Clergue French, 1934-2014

Biography
View works. Lucien Clergue, Jean Cocteau in the chapel Sainte Blaise, Milly-la-Forêt, photo 1959 | printed 1988
Jean Cocteau in the chapel Sainte Blaise, Milly-la-Forêt, photo 1959 | printed 1988
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Lucien Clergue (1934-2014) was a legendary fine art photographer, author, educator and filmmaker. His work has been associated with significant artists of the 20th century, including Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Roland Barthes, Max Ernst, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Salvador Dali, Jean Renoir, André Kertész, Marcel Breuer and many others.


Clergue captured extraordinary images of acrobats, nudes, the bullfight, intimate portraits of artists, intellectuals, musicians and creative individuals. His long friendship with Pablo Picasso is also documented in his work. His photographic artistry extends to experimental and visionary images. In addition to photography, Clergue has created and directed numerous art related films. He is co-founder, along with writer Michel Tournier and historian Jean-Maurice Rouquette, of the annual Les Rencontres d’Arles Photographie (ongoing since 1970), the internationally recognized photography festival in Arles, France.


Lucien Clergue is one of only three photographers (including Henri Cartier-Bresson and André Kertész) to receive the French Legion of Honor award. He is also the first photographer to hold the title of President of The Académie des Beaux-Arts, one of the five academies of the Institut de France. Clergue's photographs have been exhibited in numerous solo exhibitions worldwide and are in museum collections such as the MOMA, LACMA, Harvard University’s Fogg Museum (over 400 photographs), MFA Boston (over 200 photographs) and many others.


The photographs of Jean Cocteau by Lucien Clergue are also in the permanent collection of the Jean Cocteau Museum in Menton, France and were on view when the museum opened.

Artworks
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau looking to the left in a dark room holding his hand up to his face
    Jean Cocteau on the set of Testament of Orpheus, Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau sleeping on the ground as a black horse looks down at him
    Jean Cocteau in the Testament of Orpheus, Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau with feather wings and glass eyes, staring up and to the right in front of a mountain
    Jean Cocteau as The Poet and the Sphinx, Testament of Orpheus, Val d’Enfer, Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau lying on a sheet outside lined with bricks between two horse-monster shadows which curve into Cocteau’s body
    Jean Cocteau and the horse-men, Testament of Orpheus, Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau with glass eyes lying down on a wrinkled bed sheet with smoke coming out of his mouth
    Jean Cocteau in the Testament of Orpheus, Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau holding a light in a dark room and looking up to the left
    Jean Cocteau bursts the bubble, Testament of Orpheus, Studios de la Victorine, Nice, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau in full profile looking to the right outside with the sphinx puppet behind him pointed to the right
    Jean Cocteau as The Poet and the Sphinx, Testament of Orpheus, Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau standing in grass with his hands against a wall of a building
    Jean Cocteau as the Poet discovers the gypsy camp, Quarries at Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau in Louis XV costume, wearing a white curled wig, ruffled collar, and coat, leaning against a wooden set piece holding a variety of glass bottles
    Jean Cocteau in Louis XV costume, Testament of Orpheus, Studios de la Victorine, Nice, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau dressed in the style of an 18th century nobleman wearing a hat, looking to the left into a film camera
    Jean Cocteau on the camera, Studios de La Victorine, Nice, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Henri Crémieux in a white coat lighting a cigarette for Jean Cocteau dressed as the poet in 18th-century nobleman costume
    Henri Crémieux as the Professor and Jean Cocteau as the Poet in Testament of Orpheus, Studios de la Victorire, Nice, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau in an 18th-century nobleman costume looking into a camera with members of the film crew looking behind him
    Jean Cocteau in Louis XV costume on the camera, Testament of Orpheus, Studios de la Victorine, Nice, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau holding a rag up over his head and standing outside over a flower pot-
    Jean Cocteau and the hibiscus flower, Testament of Orpheus, Studios de la Victorine, Nice, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau outside in a garden holding a sign that reads “133” and Edouard Dermithein skull makeup looking at him in the background
    Jean Cocteau as the Poet and Edouard Dermithe as Cegestius, Testament of Orpheus, Studios de la Victorine, Nice, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Edouard Dermit, Claude Pinoteau and Jean Cocteau filming a scene outside with a large spotlight pointed down over them
    Testament of Orpheus, the final scene with Edouard Dermithe, Claude Pinoteau and Jean Cocteau, Route de l’Artubie, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau standing in front of a Sainte-Blaise chapel wall, decorated with an outline of a face and a vertical row of flowers.
    Jean Cocteau in the chapel Sainte Blaise, Milly-la-Forêt, photo 1959 | printed 1988
  • Black and white photograph of closeup of Jean Marais with bleeding eyes looking up to the left and holding a pole as Oedipus
    Oedipus with gouged out eyes, Testament of Orpheus, Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau in a suit looking to the right with a dark shadow framing his left side
    Jean Cocteau, port of Villefranche-sur-Mer, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau with glass eyes outside looking up and to the left with the sphinx puppet spreading its wings and looking to the right behind him
    Jean Cocteau as the Poet and the Sphinx, Testament of Orpheus, Val d’Enfer, Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Luis Miguel Dominguín, Jacqueline Picasso, and Pablo Picasso in a room sitting behind barbed wire
    Luis Miguel Dominguín, Jacqueline and Pablo Picasso, Lucia Bosé, les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau holding a flower and sitting at an empty table with an empty flower pot with Edouard Dermith with skeleton makeup standing behind him
    Jean Cocteau and Edouard Dermithe, Testament of Orpheus, St. Jean Cap Ferrat, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Catherine Hutin-Blay, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso outside looking to the right next to two shirtless men wearing polka dot swimming shorts
    Catherine Hutin-Blay, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso and the dog-men, Testament of Orpheus, Villa St. Sospir, St. Jean Cap Ferrat, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of “The Oracle” puppet, a bright white figure against buildings ruins
    The Oracle, Testament of Orpheus, Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white profile close-up photograph of Yul Brynner smoking a cigarette behind Jean Cocteau where both men are looking to the left
    Yul Brynner and Jean Cocteau, Testament of Orpheus, Les Baux-de-Provence, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau outside sitting and holding his self-portrait done on a black canvas with a white outline of his face
    Jean Cocteau and his Self-Portrait, Studios de la Victorine, Nice, 1959
  • Black and white photograph of Jean Cocteau wearing coat and scarf in his garden and pinching the nose of a classical statue
    Jean Cocteau in his garden, Milly-la-Forêt, 1959
  • Black and white aerial-view photograph of Jean Cocteau looking up towards the sun with his hands about to shield his face
    Jean Cocteau directing, Testament of Orpheus, St. Jean Cap Ferrat, 1959
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