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Jeune fille allongée dans l'herbe avec son ombrelle, Repos dans le chemin par Joseph Johann Süss
Cézanne, Paul CÉZANNE 1839-1906
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TCHELITCHEW, Pavel TCHELITCHEW
Tchelichew, American peinter of Russian origins. (1898–1957)
Pavel Tchelitchew's mouthless portrait of Alice B.
Toklas, author Gertrude Stein's lifelong partner, suggests her silent
but controlling personality. Toklas, the more reserved of the pair,
played a critical role in evaluating individuals who aspired to be part
of their famous Paris salon. Initially accepting Tchelitchew, Toklas
ultimately rejected him, concluding, "If you go into Pavlik too deeply,
you'll find a weakness."
Tchelitchew, a young Russian émigré, was fascinated with the
metaphysical concept of the simultaneity of forms, seeking to find
continuity between human and inanimate shapes. "I wanted the form to be
uninterrupted, to continue equally in and outwards," he explained. In
his portrait of Toklas, the face and head is conceived as a flattened
oval. The layering of color planes suggests the influence of Paul
Cézanne. Tchelitchew, who eventually moved to the United States, never
forgave Toklas's disapproval, telling an audience many years later that
he hoped to prove to "Miss Alice B. Toklas . . . that painters not only
paint but can think sometimes."