Why Salvador Dali's Russian rival is unknown at home: artist Pavel Chelishchev

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The works of the first Russian surrealist became a sensation at the 2010 Sotheby’s auction. One of the paintings by Pavel Chelishchev, whose name is little known both in Russia and abroad, was sold for almost a million dollars. Occasionally appearing at the auction, his mystical canvases go under the hammer for fabulous sums. But who was this mysterious artist who was ahead of Salvador Dali by a whole decade?

Pavel Chelishchev was born in 1898 into the family of a landowner, a former associate professor at Moscow State University. The Chelishchev family, according to legend, originated from a colleague of Dmitry Donskoy. The artist's childhood was eventful. The nature is subtle and impressionable, in childhood he created his own religion, which included prayers to trees, and "involved" his sister in this cult. Pavel Chelishchev loved ballet and was thinking about a career in this area. The family spoke French, German and English - and the boy perfectly mastered foreign languages. He became interested in art early, from childhood he painted portraits of his relatives. Parents looked at his hobbies with understanding, in every possible way fueled their son's interest in painting, subscribed to art magazines for him and invited teachers. However, the famous Russian impressionist Konstantin Korovin … refused to teach Pavel Chelishchev. "He is already an artist," - so he replied when he saw the work of the young man.

In 1916, Chelishchev began to study in Moscow, but the revolution broke out. The Chelishchev family was evicted from Dubrovka by Lenin's personal order. Fleeing from persecution, they moved to Kiev. There Pavel met Alexandra Exter and took several lessons from her, studied at the icon-painting workshop, and entered the Kiev Academy of Arts. He even tried himself as a theater artist, but the performances he designed did not take place. Then the trail of the artist is lost. He served in the volunteer army as a cartographer, and then either joined Denikin, or got a good job as a theater artist in Odessa. One way or another, in 1920 he ended up in Constantinople, a year later he moved to Sofia, a few months later settled in Berlin for a couple of years … In those years, Chelishchev was mainly engaged in theatrical scenery, and only in 1923, having already settled in Paris, could devote yourself to easel painting.

He did not manage to gain fame either in his homeland or in emigre circles, and Paris greeted Chelishchev rather coldly. But then a miracle happened - Gertrude Stein herself acquired his painting "A Basket of Strawberries", and the writer's tastes were imitated by the entire Parisian bohemia. And the artist himself really liked her. They became friends - and carried this friendship throughout their lives.

Since the mid-1920s, he begins to actively participate in exhibitions, his works are bought, customers and new patrons appear … At the same time, Chelishchev met and collaborated with the great Diaghilev. He paints many portraits, trying to convey not so much the appearance as the essence, the soul of a person. This leads him to Cubist and surreal experiments.

Stein's patronage allowed Chelishchev to gain popularity in certain circles … and the love of his life. At one of the meetings of the salon of Gertrude Stein, he met Charles Henry Ford, his constant partner for the next three decades. Ford's portraits are imbued with deep love with a slight touch of sadness. With him, Chelishchev went to New York, where he took up design and worked for View and Vouge magazines.

Already in the USA, Chelishchev's special creative style was formed. He continued to work in the genre of realistic painting, but more and more often "metaphorical landscapes", absurd, strange, grotesque and fantastic works appeared in his studio. He presented his first surreal experiments to the public in the 1920s - even before Magritte, Ernst and Dali.

The naive beliefs of childhood are reflected in the hybridization of human and natural images. To achieve an interesting texture, Chelishchev added sand, coffee, sequins to paints … The most famous series of Chelishchev's works are "metaphysical heads", portraits of human souls, which is the very essence of a living, thinking creature. They are "X-rays" of human heads, including fragments of the nervous and circulatory systems, bones of the skull, organs of sight and smell. Later, the artist began to create portraits from "glowing" spirals and concentric circles.

Real fame fell on Chelishchev in the 1940s and … scared him. After his triumphant exhibition at MOMA, he practically stopped communicating with the public. He was ready for misunderstanding, rejection, ridicule more than for general admiration. People became so disgusting to Chelishchev that he gradually "expelled" them from canvases - during this period he became interested in abstract painting. Chelishchev died in Italy, at his villa in Frascati, in 1957 - and was resurrected for art. Charles Ford and his sister, Ruth, with whom Chelishchev was also very close, began to preserve and popularize his work. They organized exhibitions and "brought" Chelishchev's works to the art market. In Russia, his relative, the poet K. Kedrov, is engaged in preserving the memory of the artist.

The reason Pavel Chelishchev is unknown to the general public is that his talent was revealed at the wrong time. It's not enough to be a gifted artist - you need to be in the right place at the right time. Chelishchev was too young to "join" the exquisite circle of the decadent Symbolists of the World of Art. The revolution prevented him from completing his studies and acquiring acquaintances in Russia, and natural modesty and aristocracy prevented him from advertising himself. His experiments in the field of magical realism were ahead of their time and were not understood by his contemporaries, who, just a decade later, greeted the self-proclaimed king of surrealism, Salvador Dali, with a standing ovation. However, during his lifetime he knew both fame and wealth, which many artists cannot boast of. And after the death of the artist, his creations over and over again become a discovery for collectors and art critics.