Le mystère laïc
Le mystère laïc is one of the most significant early books on Giorgio de Chirico and his metaphysical imagination. Jean Cocteau writes here not as a detached art historian, but as a poetic witness to a painting that turns the everyday into enigmatic silence. The book appeared in 1928 from Éditions des Quatre Chemins and is illustrated with five compositions after drawings by De Chirico. It stands at an important intersection: De Chirico’s metaphysical painting, the Parisian avant-garde, Cocteau’s network and the later Surrealist fascination with dreamlike urban spaces meet here. This copy is numbered 413 of 2875 and is enriched with Cocteau’s autograph inscription on the half-title: “à mon cher Fouquet – Jean”. The recipient is probably Gaëtan Fouquet, a known figure from the broader modernist Parisian circle. Thus an already important artist’s book also becomes a personal association copy from Cocteau’s literary and artistic milieu.
Quantity
Cocteau, Jean
Giorgio de Chirico
Le mystère laïc
1928 | Paris | Éditions des Quatre Chemins
This copy of Le mystère laïc brings together De Chirico’s metaphysical visual world and Cocteau’s poetic art criticism. The autograph inscription to Fouquet turns number 413 into a personal association copy from the Parisian modernist circle. It is a subtle but important document of avant-garde reception in 1928.
Le mystère laïc is one of the most significant early books on Giorgio de Chirico and his metaphysical imagination. Jean Cocteau writes here not as a detached art historian, but as a poetic witness to a painting that turns the everyday into enigmatic silence. The book appeared in 1928 from Éditions des Quatre Chemins and is illustrated with five compositions after drawings by De Chirico. It stands at an important intersection: De Chirico’s metaphysical painting, the Parisian avant-garde, Cocteau’s network and the later Surrealist fascination with dreamlike urban spaces meet here. This copy is numbered 413 of 2875 and is enriched with Cocteau’s autograph inscription on the half-title: “à mon cher Fouquet – Jean”. The recipient is probably Gaëtan Fouquet, a known figure from the broader modernist Parisian circle. Thus an already important artist’s book also becomes a personal association copy from Cocteau’s literary and artistic milieu.
€860
Condition Report:
In-Depth Study
References & Bibliography
Format
In-12 (Duodecimo) approx. 17 × 22 cm
Edition Particulars
Numbered copy 413/2875, enriched with Jean Cocteau’s autograph inscription on the half-title: “à mon cher Fouquet – Jean”; the recipient is probably Gaëtan Fouquet.
Print Run
2875
Copy Number
No. 413
Inscription
Association Copy
Product DETAIL
The book is Jean Cocteau’s text on Giorgio de Chirico and the enigmatic core of his art. Cocteau does not offer a continuous narrative, but approaches De Chirico’s painting as a world of signs, squares, objects, silence and unexpected spiritual tension. The title suggests that mystery in De Chirico is neither ecclesiastical nor dogmatic, but secular: it arises from ordinary things that suddenly become strange. The five compositions after the artist’s drawings give the book a direct visual anchoring. The reader receives a poetic interpretation of De Chirico’s metaphysical space rather than a systematic catalogue. The central question is how a modern artist can charge the visible with inexplicable presence. Cocteau’s inscription adds a social layer to this content, as the copy becomes part of a concrete modernist network.
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