PAVEL TCHELITCHEW | Portrait-nature-morte

Galerie Lucie Weill, Paris
Sotheby's London, Neo-Romantic & Surrealist Art from the Collection of Pierre Le-Tan, 25 October 1995, lot 114

Possibly Galerie Lucie Weill, Paris, Hommage à Tchelitchew, 12 October - 12 November 1966, no.13 Composition

Original canvas which is buckling in places, notably in the lower right corner and the sitter's right hand. There are minor frame abrasions along all four edges. Faint stretcher bar marks are visible along the edges and running horizontally through the centre of the composition. Cracks are visible throughout, some are lifting in places but appear stable at present. There are isolated areas of paint flaking with associated paint losses such as in the chin and neck of the bust and the neck of the painted portrait head. There is a scratch with associated paint loss in the lower right corner. There is a layer of surface dirt and the uneven varnish layer has discoloured. Inspection under UV light reveals a layer of discoloured varnish as well as what appears to be retouching to the right cheek and the neck of the bust. Held in a gold painted wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In the catalogue of Tchelitchew's solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art James Thrall Soby refers to the present lot as the third of four single figure compositions which the artist executed in the early 1930s: ‘The same arbitrary foreshortening and enlargement are found in the third picture of the still-life figure series, a Neo-Classic scene in which a figure with an enormous plaster hand faces a column with classic bust.’ (Tchelitchew, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1942, p.21) The portraits in this small series are constructed from the sometimes humorous juxtapositions of inanimate component parts in the manner of the Milanese mannerist painter Arcimboldo, such as the wry use of an oil radiator as a stand-in for a fluted classical pillar, but the unsettling atmosphere and eerie sense of silence have more in common with de Chirico. The oversized plaster hands which were to become a recurring motif make their first appearance in these works and are a direct reference to the Surrealist artist, as is the head of Apollo. Parker Tyler refers to the metaphysical vein, influenced by de Chirico, which runs through Tchelitchew’s work at this time, ‘this vein compasses only the artist’s portraits natures mortes in which live beings are hallucinated with sculpture and furniture props and pictures-within-pictures’. (P.Tyler, The Divine Comedy of Pavel Tchelitchew, p.304)

The majority of the sitters for this series were dancers and circus performers, such as Harald Kreutzberg who partnered Edward James’s wife Tilly Losch, often wearing stage make-up and the cloth cap worn by performers under wigs.