Lot 136
Pavel Tchelitchew (1898-1957)
Leaf Children
Closed7 May 2009
Price Realised
USD 8,750
More Information
Specialist note
Erik La Prade has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
In the late summer of 1938, Tchelitchew moved from Europe to Westport, Connecticut, where he lived for the next two years. Tchelitchew wrote, "In Connecticut, I was so much amazed by the splendor of the American autumn that my previous idea of hide-and-seek [sic] returned to my mind and I made innumerable sketches [sic] in gouache and colored ink of leaves. . . . I also painted a gouache of children playing blind man's bluff. In the shape of frozen oak leaves, I discerned the figures of children in fantastic garb" (quoted in J. Thrall Soby, Tchelitchew: Paintings, drawings, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1942, p. 18).
In the late summer of 1938, Tchelitchew moved from Europe to Westport, Connecticut, where he lived for the next two years. Tchelitchew wrote, "In Connecticut, I was so much amazed by the splendor of the American autumn that my previous idea of hide-and-seek [sic] returned to my mind and I made innumerable sketches [sic] in gouache and colored ink of leaves. . . . I also painted a gouache of children playing blind man's bluff. In the shape of frozen oak leaves, I discerned the figures of children in fantastic garb" (quoted in J. Thrall Soby, Tchelitchew: Paintings, drawings, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1942, p. 18).