Pavel Tchelitchew

Pavel Tchelitchew, a Russian-born American surrealist, was a highly accomplished draftsmen and figurative artist, known both for his hallucinatory paintings and whimsical stage designs. In 1919, when he was twenty-one, Tchelitchew designed his first production, The Geisha, an operetta by Ivan Caryl (1861-1921) for a theater in Kiev. From Kiev, the artist traveled to Constantinople, where he designed six ballets for the company of Victor Zimine. Tchelitchew next traveled to Berlin, quickly securing a series of design commissions for both theater and ballet productions. His work on the Russian Romantic Theater's production of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's (1844-1908) The Wedding Feast of Boyar (1922), in which he combined constructivist geometries with Russian folk fabric patterns--captured the attention of Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929), who commissioned Tchelitchew to create a designs for the Ballets Russes in Paris. Though the commission did not come to fruition until six years later, the result -- Ode (1928) -- represented a radical breakthrough for Tchelitchew. In particular, Tchelitchew developed a keen sense for light and transparency, using luminous cellulose materials for both the costumes and sets. The artist's interest in translucency--also a hallmark of his paintings and drawings--would significantly inform all his designs moving forward. In this undated costume study from the McCrindle collection, Tchelitchew depicts a male and female dancer locked in a dramatic pose, with the man grasping the woman's wrist as she appears to swoon before him.