PAVEL TCHELITCHEW Group of Figures in a Landscape.
Pen and ink and wash. 212x274 mm; 8 1/4x10 3/4 inches.
Ex-collection Estate of Lincoln Kirstein, New York; private collection.
Tchelitchew (1898-1957) was born in Russia and developed an interest in art at an early age. One of his instructors in Kiev was Alexandra Ekster, a pupil of Fernand Léger and an important theater designer in Soviet Russia. Tchelitchew left Russia in 1920, stopping briefly in Berlin, and executed several theater designs before ending up in Paris and becoming acquainted with Gertrude Stein and her coterie. He moved to New York in the mid-1930s with his partner, the writer Charles Henri Ford, and became close friends with Paul Cadmus's brother-in-law Lincoln Kirstein (who along with George Balanchine formed the New York City Ballet). Tchelitchew designed costumes and sets for several important ballet productions in New York City, including Balanchine's Errante and Orpheus. Through his connection to Kirstein, Tchelitchew became part of the artistic circle that included Cadmus, French, Tooker and others.
