Pavel Tchelitchew (Russian 1898-1957)
Tchelitchev was an exponant of the Neo-Romantic movement, which included also the Berman brothers and Christian Bérard. This group, active in Paris during the 1920's, drew their inspiration from Picasso's 'Blue' and 'Pink' periods and the metaphysical paintings of de Chirico.
Tchelitchev's early painting was abstract in style, described as Constructivist and Futurist and influenced by his study with Aleksandra Ekster in Kiev. In 1921 Tchelitchev made his way to pre-fascist Berlin. The Golden Twenties made Berlin the heart of decadent, bohemian life for the wealthy, famous and demi-monde. Cabarets and theatres thrived and Tchelitchev received commissions to produce the decors for Le Coq d'or and Savonarole for the Berlin Opera. In 1923 Tchelitchev moved to Paris where he became acquainted with Gertrude Stein and the Sitwell and Gorer families. In Paris he exhibited as a painter at the Salon d'Automne, Galerie Druet, Galerie Pierre and Galerie Vignon. As a set and costume designer, he also collaborated with Serge Diaghliev and George Balanchine.
Throughout the 1920s, Tchelitchev was fascinated by the human face and portraiture played an important role in his work. Works completed during a ten year span 1929 - 1939, reflect the artist's passion for the male form and his vision of uninhibited sexuality, living in a dream world, a dream, of fulfilment, where the body exists for beauty and has its purpose. The dreamscapes were an evocation of complex metaphysical perspectives and were powerful statements about sexuality. Soby discussed the artist's portrait style as follows:
'[his] portraits retained [a] savage distortion of facial featuresIn them are the unmistakable signs of the expressionist tradition of portraiture which had been developing in Europe since the turn of the century, in Germany through Expressionism itself, and in Paris through the impact of the Fauves, African sculpture, Picasso's experiments and the independent researches of arbitrary contours of Tchelitchev's portrait there is an implication of tender brooding and reverie which the portraiture of his elders for the most part lacked. By comparison with the latter, Tchelitchev's portraits are romantic or, as the term came to be,' Neo-Romantic'. (James Thrall SOBY, Pavel Tchelitchev, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1942, p.14).
Tchelitchev had his first American show at the newly-opened Museum of Modern Art in 1930. In 1934, he moved from Paris to New York City with his partner, writer Charles Henri Ford. From 1940 to 1947, Tchelitchev provided illustrations for the Surrealist magazine View, edited by Ford and writer and film critic Parker Tyler. Tchelitchev's most significant work is the painting Hide and Seek, painted in 1940-42, and currently on display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He became a United States citizen in 1952 and died in Grottaferrata, Italy in 1957.
Selected exhibitions include:
1928 Claridge Gallery, London
1938 Julien Levy Gallery, New York
1942 Museum of Modern Art, New York
1964 Gallery of Modern Art, New York
Public collections include:
Boston Museum
Courtauld Institute, London
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Musée de Beaux-Arts, Grenoble
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Philadelphia Museum