A Friend’s Tribute to Cocteau

She was married to the man some consider the artistic genius of this century.

It was 1952 and Francoise Gilot, the 30-year-old wife of 70-year-old Pablo Picasso, had opened her first important art show in Paris. Jean Cocteau said of it: “Francoise’s painting uses Picasso’s syntax, but with a feminine vocabulary, full of grace.”

The praise from Cocteau--poet, novelist and playwright (the French movie classic “Beauty and the Beast” is his)--came at a crucial time. Gilot was trying to summon the courage to leave her husband, whose cruelty had caused her to withdraw, to begin to lose herself.

Now, Gilot says, it is her turn to praise Cocteau, her close friend until his death in 1963.

Tomorrow, at the Severin Wunderman Museum in Irvine--which claims to have the largest collection in the world of Cocteau’s works--Gilot will lecture on her friendship with the writer and autograph copies of her books, “An Artist’s Journey” and “Interface.”

Her observations on Cocteau will be discussed within the context of his peers--Picasso, Juan Gris, Amedeo Modigliani and Igor Stravinsky.

“Cocteau and I were great friends,” says Gilot, mother of Tiffany jewelry designer Paloma Picasso and wife of Dr. Jonas Salk. “It is only normal for me to lecture about him. If I’d never met him, he would still have brought a lot to my life. My generation really admired him for his great imagination, his values. I think he was, before anything else, the archetypical poet--the romantic. You certainly see that in his movie, ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ ”

Gilot is no stranger to Orange County.

On a few occasions, she and Salk have dined at Gustaf Anders restaurant in Santa Ana. The restaurant was formerly located in La Jolla, where the couple live.

(Her exotic-looking daughter, Paloma--a member of the international society set--is also no stranger to Orange County. She attended the gala opening of Tiffany & Co. at South Coast Plaza in 1988. “It didn’t occur to me to invite Paloma to my lecture tomorrow,” Gilot says. “She is busy in Italy with her accessory line and busy in Germany with her line of sunglasses. All of our family is busy. When we meet, we meet privately.”)

After the lecture and a champagne reception, Wunderman (his Severin Group manufactures Gucci timepieces worldwide) will dine with Gilot at Prego in Irvine, his favorite restaurant.

“I am honored and flattered that Madame Gilot has accepted our invitation to speak,” says Wunderman. “It is a great privilege for us to enjoy her company.”

(Social tip: In September, Wunderman’s 20,000-square-foot Italian villa in Laguna Beach--loaded with rare antiques--will be the site of a charity gala. The beneficiary? “I’m not sure yet,” he says.)

Joining Wunderman and Gilot for dinner will be museum director Tony Clark, who stays in Cocteau’s elegant estate when he visits Paris. “I look at the geniuses of our time and I see Cocteau’s ability to influence their style,” Clark says in a dreamy tone. “If you are searching for the spirit of Cocteau--the essence of French literature and art--you’ll find it inside the mind of Francoise Gilot.”

A now voyage: They’re calling it a “mind-blower on the Hornblower.” And 500 members of the new Harbour Club in Newport Beach are calling it a social event to kick off the ‘90s. Nobody can remember the last time a private club was christened in Orange County. But it’s going to happen on Jan. 26 when the club’s president, Dick Stevens--the man who brought the Spruce Goose to Long Beach--stages a $125,000 blowout aboard the 183-foot Hornblower (cruising to Newport waters from San Pedro for a mind-blowing $30,000).

Guests will board the ship to a ‘20s theme, and, as the party progresses, enjoy music and entertainment that will take them into the ‘90s.

Party guests, who will include club members Lyle Waggoner, George Argyros, Roger Miller, Bill Ficker and Jim Dale, will also sample ports-of-call-themed fare at several food stations. Les Brown’s band will play for dancing.

“We’re going to have fun ,” says Stevens, who returned to Orange County a few months ago after a two-year business stint in Florida. “When I returned to Newport I was disappointed in the evolution of what I call the ‘village’ into a big city with all of the big-city problems. There is a need for a place where you can be known, a private enclave that is essentially non-commercial, a second home that is fun.”

Potential Harbour Club members are carefully scrutinized, Stevens says. “We have a review board.” Which is to say, not just anyone can join the club for $500, the asking price until Feb. 1 when a $500 initiation fee will be added. Ship ahoy.

Tidbits: Local Republican heavyweights are being invited to attend “A California Tribute to President George Bush” at the Century Plaza Hotel on Feb. 6. Frank Visco, chairman of the Republican Party in California, is host. Gov. George Deukmejian and Sen. Pete Wilson also plan to attend the $1,000-per-person gala. . . . Claire Trevor, the Academy Award-winning widow of Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren’s father, Milton Bren, is in town. Thursday night at the Ritz in Newport Beach, Trevor was feted at a dinner party given by her good friends Norma and Bo Meyer. Norma Meyer, an interior designer, decorated Trevor’s penthouse at the Hotel Pierre in Manhattan, where she lives.