La Chapelle Saint-Pierre de Villefranche-sur-Mer. Dix Lithographies Originales de Jean Cocteau de Cocteau, Jean

Portfolio of 10 colored lithographs, consisting of the following: 5 double-page lithos depicting sketches for the artist's frescoes at La Chapelle Saint-Pierre, each ca. 25 3/4" x 20 1/8", and 5 single-page examples, each ca. 12 7/8" x 20 1/8", including the front and rear wrpps., a frontispiece, an image titled "Le Coq de Pierre," and a self-portrait, all executed in 1956-57, signed and dated in the plates, together with table of contents, a 3 pp. introduction to the project by the artist and an additional 3 pp. poetic text recounting stories of St. Peter from the New Testament for the triptych "pour le Noël des pecheurs". Printed on Velin with deckled edges. Large folio. Contents loose as issued, lithographed wrpps. with protective glassine, all housed in publisher's orig. boards slipcase. Paris (Mourlot) 1958. Signed by the artist on title page, from the edition of 175 copies. In 1950, Cocteau proposed a series of frescoes and stained glass windows for a small 14th-century fisherman's chapel in the seaside village of Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Côte d'Azur. The murals, depicting scenes from the life of St. Peter, were finally realized in 1957, and are a characteristic combination of brilliantly colored, swooping modern forms alongside religious tableaux (incl. a jazz guitarist serenading the Virgin Mary). The present lithographic suite produced in conjunction with the chapel paintings is quite scarce. As of February 2020, OCLC locates only three North American institutional holdings.