The show, dubbed Bohemians from Montparnasse, provides an insight into a time when Paris was considered the centre of the arts world, the gallery said.

The photos by Cocteau come from the New York Klüver/Martin Collection in what is only the fourth time they are on show in Europe.

Cocteau took the snapshots on a single afternoon in Montparnasse in 1916 and caught the likes of Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Max Jacob, Erik Satie and Moise Kisling.

The photos are now seen as extraordinary historical documents showing how progressive and free-wheeling the French capital was despite WWI raging just 100 kilometres away, according to Photon curator Dejan Sluga.

Cocteau's shots are juxtaposed against photos by his contemporary Veno Pilon, one of the most internationally renowned Slovenian artists, who settled down in Paris in the late 1920s and became an integral part of the art scene there.

In the 1930s Pilon, known for photographing artists in their studios, shot a series of portraits of artists such as Giorgio De Chirico, Alexander Rodchenko, Ossip Zadkine and Massimo Campigli.