Show Reunites Chanel, Cocteau

Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel and Jean Cocteau--close friends who fostered each other’s creativity during their lifetimes--were “reunited” Sunday when the Chanel Boutique unveiled an exhibit of Cocteau’s art.

More than 100 guests gathered at Chanel in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, to view selected Cocteau works on loan from the Severin Wunderman Museum in Irvine. The $50-per-person champagne reception was expected to raise about $20,000 for the museum.

Tale of Two Friends

The friendship between Chanel and Cocteau proved mutually beneficial. The two shared a passion for theater. Cocteau asked Chanel to design costumes for his most famous plays, including “Antigone.” In turn, she was one of his greatest patrons, commissioning works of art (and even allowing him to live in her home while he recovered from his opium addiction).

“I’ve been working for two years on this exhibit,” said Roger Martin, manager of the Chanel boutique. “Knowing the connection between Coco Chanel and Jean Cocteau, I felt it was a natural.”

Cocteau was a true Renaissance man, Martin said. He worked in all media--sculpture, painting, jewelry design, plays and film.

“He draws and paints with such freedom,” noted Judy Fluor Runels, a supporter of the Severin Wunderman who attended with her husband, Dick Runels. “I have a degree in art, and I know that’s really hard to achieve.”

Guests wandered among the boutique admiring the 42 items on display. They included an eye-shaped brooch with a pearl teardrop; a poster from “La Belle et La Bete” (Beauty and the Beast), the 1945 Cocteau film that inspired the Disney feature; his humorous sketch of Igor Stravinsky playing the piano in Chanel’s living room, and a portrait of Chanel sketched by Cocteau.

“To mix Jean Cocteau with Chanel is perfect. She was one of his best friends. They really go together well,” said Deborah Wunderman Drucker, a daughter of Severin Wunderman. She attended the party with her husband, Lee Drucker.

Food and Fashion

No Chanel event is complete without fashion. Models posed throughout the store in Chanel’s sleek Cruise Collection.

While admiring the art and the clothes, guests sampled hors d’oeuvres prepared by Pascal Olhats of Pascal restaurant in Newport Beach. The fare included pastries filled with fresh caviar, duck confit, ahi tuna brochette with fennel and roasted vegetable brochette.

The art works will remain on display at Chanel through Nov. 21. They are part of a larger exhibit called “Jean Cocteau: Image and Idea” at the Severin Wunderman Museum. More than 300 works by Cocteau, many from the museum’s permanent collection, will be on view through Dec. 31.

“Some of these works are from private collection and institutions. The collection toured Japan for eight months, and this is the only venue where it will be seen in this country,” said Tony Clark, executive director of the museum.

Among those attending the gala were: Kenneth Anger, Lydia Bertrand, Sarah Burgess Cadenhead, Arlette Thebault, Colleen Craig, Michael and Marie Dolan, John Hermann, Mary Hirsch, Howard Johns, Donna Karlen, Nga Thuy Nguyen, Niyoko Nakamura, Margaret Nord, Barbara Powell, Grace Robbins, John Roth, Donna Rudy, Andrea Rundgren, H.E. and Diana Sterling, Jean Claude Terrac, Jennifer van Bergh, Jacques Wizman, Raphaelle Wunderman Cassens and her husband, Phil Cassens.