“Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the same effect of youth and freshness and originality and spontaneity as it did originally, and you have done a poet's job. The rest is literature.”

French poet, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, designer, film director, visual artist and critic

Jean Cocteau was a French poet, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, designer, film director, visual artist, and critic. He belonged to the 20th century avant-garde and was closely associated with the artistic ferment that shaped modern French culture. He worked across several art forms and helped influence the Surrealist and Dadaist movements. The National Observer described him as the figure from that daring generation who came closest to a Renaissance man.