5. 5AR JEAN COCTEAU (1889-1963) The Birth of Venus signed and dated 'Jean L'oiseleur 1925' (upper right) and inscribed 'Naissance de Vénus' (lower left) pen and ink and pencil on paper Executed in 1925 26.8 x 20.8 cm. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Annie Guédras. Provenance The artist's estate. Acquired from her by the previous owner. Sale, Bonhams, London, 20 October 2012, lot 11. Private collection, France (acquired in this sale). Private collection, France (by descent). In 1925, Jean Cocteau made a number of drawings during his first opium detox. Some of these drawings were specifically concerned with the split personality caused by the drug. He often included a miniature frigate as an allegorical representation of the opium craze in the navy at the time. After his cure, in June 1925, Jean Cocteau presented his first exhibition at the Galerie Briant-Robert, which published an album of his drawings under the title "Maison de Santé". The signature "Jean l'Oiseleur" was one that Jean Cocteau had often used since the previous year when he had published "Les mystères de Jean l'oiseleur". For him, this name meant that the poet was likened to a bird-catcher whose birds were messengers of the unknown, a sort of secondary angels. -Annie Guédras-