Silence! Ici j’ordonne… (Nathalie Paley en sphinx) 1932

Jean Cocteau's 1932 "Silence! Ici j’ordonne… (Nathalie Paley en sphinx)" is a collage featuring a black and white photograph of Nathalie Paley, a Russian princess. The image is cut and pasted onto a background of watercolor washes and hand-drawn lines, with Paley's head positioned on top of a sketch of a sphinx-like body. The fragmented and dreamlike composition is characteristic of Cocteau's artistic style, which combined surrealism, classicism, and theatrical elements. The title, translated as "Silence! I command… (Nathalie Paley as a sphinx)," adds to the mysterious and enigmatic quality of the piece.