“Being hated by idiots is the price you pay for not being one of them.” - Jean Cocteau Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) was an extraordinarily versatile French artist who rarely confined himself to a single creative pursuit. He wrote poetry and novels, directed films, designed ballets, and constantly drew. In 1929, while recovering in a clinic, he completed Les Enfants Terribles in just 17 days. Years later, during its film adaptation, Cocteau became so absorbed in production that he reportedly yelled “cut” during a scene, prompting director Jean-Pierre Melville to remove him from the set. Even a vacation in southern France became an artistic undertaking. While staying at the villa of his friend Francine Weisweiller, Cocteau initially asked permission to make a drawing above the fireplace. He soon expanded far beyond that small project, eventually covering walls, ceilings, and furnishings with roughly 200 works. He affectionately described the transformed home as his “tattooed villa,” with artists such as Picasso and Matisse encouraging his creativity. Cocteau brought the same imagination to filmmaking. Decades before digital effects existed, he created surreal illusions using remarkably simple techniques. To make characters appear to move through mirrors, he filmed reflective pools of liquid mercury from above, while reversed footage allowed unnatural movements to appear strangely convincing. Throughout his life, Cocteau seemed capable of turning almost anything into a canvas for his imagination. A novel could emerge in a matter of days, a friend’s home could become an enormous artwork, and an ordinary mirror could be transformed into a mysterious passageway to another world.