Tchelitchew, Pavel

Tchelitchew, Pavel päˈvĕl chālēˈchĕf [key], 1898–1957, Russian-American painter. His first commissions, ballet designs, were given him while he was living in Berlin (1921–23), whence he had fled from the Russian Revolution. Moving to Paris (1923), he became associated with Diaghilev. In 1926 he developed his technique of multiple images on a single canvas, which he later combined with triple perspective. Experimenting thus with juxtaposed objects, he sought to recreate the motion of the body. These interior landscapes resulted in complex and fantastic compositions. The best-known work in this manner is Hide and Seek (Mus. of Modern Art, New York City). He was also a portraitist, Edith Sitwell being among his subjects.

See biography by P. Tyler (1967); study by J. T. Soby (1942, repr. 1972).

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