JEAN COCTEAU'S HOUSE OPENS TO TEH PUBLIC

PURCHASED IN 1947 WITH JEAN MARAIS, JEAN COCTEAU'S HOUSE IN MILLY-LA-FORERT WAS THE THEATER OF CREATION FOR HIS MOST IMPORTANT WORKS. BORN WITHIN THESE WALLS WERE THE UNFORGETTABLE WORDS OF TESTAMENT D'ORPHEE AND REQUIEM, ALONG WITH NUMEROUS PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND PASTELS. HE LIVED THE LAST SEVENTEEN YEARS OF HIS LIFE HERE WITH HIS COMPANION, EDOUARD DERMIT. FROM THE DEATH OF THE POET IN 1963 UNTIL 1905, THE LATTER WATCHED OVER THE PRECIOUS OBJECTS THAT HAD MADE UP COCTEAU'S DAILY SURROUNDINGS. WITH ITS IDEAL POSITION NEAR THE TOWN CENTER, THE HARMONY OF THE BUILDINGS AND GARDENS, AND THE AESTHETIC QUALITIES OF THE PROPERTY, JEAN COCTEAU CHOSE TO MAKE HIS 'REFUGE' A WORK OF ART IN ITS OWN RIGHT, IN KEEPING WITH IS IMAGE, HIS REVERIES. LESS THAN AN HOUR FROM PARIS, HE CREATED CONNECTIONS IN MILLY-LA-FORET BETWEEN THE SPACE AND HIS WORK, INTEGRATING SET ELEMENTS FROM HIS FILMS, SCULPTURES ESPECIALLY, INTO THE GARDENS. THE MAISON JEAN COCTEAU IS AN IMPORTANT EXPRESSION OF THE ARTIST'S TASTES AND PRIVATE LIFE, NOW OFFERING THE PUBLIC, AFTER FIVE YEARS OF PREPARATION, A PERFECT RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BEDROOM, OFFICE, AND MAIN SITTING ROOM, WHICH NOTABLY CONTAINS A MASTERLY CANVAS BY CHRISTIAN BERARD. PIERRE BERGE, WHO HOLDS THE MORAL RIGHTS TO JEAN COCTEAU'S WORK AND IS PRESIDENT AND PATRON OF THIS PROJECT, ACQUIRED THE PROPERTY IN 2002, WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE ILE-DE-FRANCE REGIONAL COUNCIL AND THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE ESSONE DEPARTMENT, IN ORDER TO CREATE A PLACE TO REMEMBER AND REDISCOVER JEAN COCTEAU'S WORK.