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Pavel Tchelitchew (1898-1957) is amongst the most fascinating artist personalities of the modern era. After completing his apprenticeship in Moscow and Kiev, at the beginning of the 1920s he worked as a successful stage designer in Berlin, before relocating to Paris in 1923. He was influenced not only by Surrealism, but also by the Russian Symbolism, to which he added elements of Cubism. In the 1940s, now in New York, Tchelitchew dedicated himself to 'inner landscapes' and 'x-ray' portraits of heads and bodies, streaked with glowing veins, arteries and nerve pathways. Tchelitchew experimented continually with new styles, so as to find imagery for transcendent elements, cosmic structures and philosophical concepts. His comprehensive collection of studies, sketches and paintings constitutes an extraordinarily individual contribution to art in the modern era. This publication pays tribute for the first time to the full scope of his work and presents him in the context of contemporary art.
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