{"id":35209,"date":"2020-08-19T17:02:51","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T15:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monaco-tribune.com\/?p=35209"},"modified":"2022-11-28T22:13:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T21:13:00","slug":"if-we-survive-the-holocaust-ill-buy-you-a-house-the-story-of-the-villa-cocteau-painted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monaco-tribune.com\/en\/2020\/08\/if-we-survive-the-holocaust-ill-buy-you-a-house-the-story-of-the-villa-cocteau-painted\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIf we survive the Holocaust, I\u2019ll buy you a house.” The story of the villa painted by Cocteau"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In that part of France where luxury lounges all year round, there is a white house which calls itself the villa of sighs. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all the glamour of the C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur, where modesty is almost frowned upon, Villa Santo Sospir<\/a> is rather discreet. Nestled in a grove at the utmost point of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Mediterranean plants climb its otherwise bare flanks towards the roof of terracotta tiles. Yet, simplicity deceives. Behind the bare walls hides a masterpiece of 20th century Western art: the inside of the villa is entirely painted by French artist, poet, author and filmmaker, Jean Cocteau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we survive the Holocaust, I\u2019ll buy you a house”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we survive the Holocaust, I\u2019ll buy you a house,\u201d Jewish-American banker Alec Weisweiller allegedly told his wife Francine during the Nazi occupation of France. And when they did survive, true to his words, he bought her Villa Santo Sospir – named after the Italian word for ‘sigh’. It was in 1950 that Cocteau first came to the villa as a guest. By this point, Alec and Francine Weisweiller were no longer living together. Alec lived in Paris with his mistress and Francine spent her time in the south of France. She had met Cocteau during the shooting of \u201cThe Strange Ones\u201d (\u201cLes Enfants Terribles\u201d), Jean-Pierre Melville\u2019s adaptation of Cocteau\u2019s novel. The artist\u2019s stay became the first of many, and throughout the 50s, Cocteau was somewhat of a permanent guest at the villa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such unbearably white walls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cocteau could not stand the bareness of the villa\u2019s walls. One day, he asked Francine if he could draw the head of Apollo above the fireplace in the living room. She agreed. And so, he did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMatisse told me: \u201cwhen you dress up a wall, you will dress up the other ones too.” He was right,\u201d explains Cocteau in a 35-minute-long montage film<\/a> he made about Villa Santo Sospir. Indeed, a lonely Apollo had soon turned into a pantheon of gods and demi-gods. There is the bedroom with Narcissus, and Eco repeating his name, written in red letters on the wall; the room where Actaeon is transformed into a deer by Diana who caught him looking at her while she bathed; the wall where Dionysus sleeps after an afternoon of drinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when he tired of myths, Cocteau brought to life the villa\u2019s own setting. Scattered amongst the Gods are the prosaic silhouettes of the C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur:  sea urchins, birds, fougasse (a type of bread made in Nice), and the fishermen from nearby Villefranche, whom Cocteau calls in his film \u201cthe sun\u2019s priests\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist was particularly fond of Villefranche and of its fishermen. After Villa Santo Sospir, he also painted the\u00a0Saint-Pierre chapel<\/a>\u00a0in Villefranche, which is nicknamed \u201cthe fishermen\u2019s chapel\u201d because used as a storage space for fishing nets.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>
View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/a>

A post shared by Villa Santo Sospir (@villasantosospir)<\/a> on