Height 9.5 in., Width 6.5 in., Framed Height 18 in., Width 15 in. This ink drawing on paper depicts a profile head of a young man rendered in Cocteaus signature continuous line technique, the face, curling hair, eye, nose, lips and shoulders described entirely in a single flowing unbroken line of dark blue ink against the bare paper ground with no shading or tonal variation. The economy and confidence of the draftsmanship is entirely characteristic of Jean Cocteau, the preeminent French polymath of the 20th century whose profile drawings in ink and brush are among the most instantly recognizable works on paper in modern art, the single line portrait being a form he practiced and refined throughout his career from the 1920s onward. The work is signed Jean Cocteau in a fluid cursive hand at the lower left, the signature matching documented examples of the artists handwriting on comparable ink drawings sold at major auction houses. The drawing is presented in a gilt frame with cream mat and is in very good condition with no visible foxing, staining or damage to the paper.