"Tree Face" earthenware plate by Jean Marais Vallauris

Jean Marais (1913–1998)
Actor, director, and writer, Jean Marais retired to the Alpes-Maritimes in the 1970s following the death of Jean Cocteau. He settled in Cabris, where he spent about fifteen years, and then in Vallauris, where he practiced pottery, sculpture, and theater. There, he opened an art gallery called “Le Fournas” with the help of a couple of friends who were potters. His creations—anthropomorphic or zoomorphic mythological figures—were inspired by ancient traditions and the theater.