Pavel Tchelitchew (Russian, 1898-1957)

 

Portrait of a Young Man

Pavel Tchelitchew was a Russian-born painter and illustrator known for his Surrealist paintings and drawings. He was born in 1898 in Moscow and studied art at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. Tchelitchew fled the Soviet Union in 1919 and settled in Paris, where he became a member of the Surrealist movement. He exhibited his work widely in Europe and the United States, and his work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Tchelitchew is known for his fantastical, dreamlike paintings and drawings, which often incorporate elements of collage and feature distorted or surrealist imagery. He died in New York City in 1957 at the age of 59.