Oil on canvas, circa 1915. 840x1170 mm; 33x46 inches. Signed in oil, lower right recto. Ex-collection prima ballerina Tamara Toumanova, Santa Monica; thence by descent.
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 arriving 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' brother-in-law Lincoln Kirstein (who along with George Balanchine formed the New York Ballet). Tchelitchew designed costumes and sets for several important ballet productions in New York, including Balanchine's Errante and Orpheus. Through his connection to Kirstein, Tchelitchew became part of the artistic circle that included Cadmus, Jared French, George Tooker and others.
