Interieur chapelle Saint Blaise 1959

Jean Cocteau made this painting directly onto the chapel wall, and what strikes me is how the image has been created by a kind of drawing. I can imagine Cocteau making a direct and intuitive connection with the wall, almost like a dialogue. The lines seem to flow spontaneously, creating a sense of movement and energy. The face is distorted, elongated, but rendered with simple contours and a sense of depth. There’s a raw quality to the marks, as though the artist were working quickly, seizing the moment to capture an idea. The face with the crown of thorns reminds me of a Francis Bacon painting, with the same interest in the distortion of flesh. The simplicity of Cocteau’s lines, however, feels more allied to Cy Twombly’s graphic approach, where drawing becomes a form of writing. Artists are always having conversations with each other and with those who came before, riffing on ideas to see what emerges. Painting opens up that space for interpretation, where ambiguity and uncertainty can lead to new ways of seeing and feeling.