Study for Cous-Cous

Pavel Tchelitchews Study for Cous-Cous from 1935 is a watercolor and pen and blue ink drawing on cream wove paper that represents a preparatory study for one of the Russian-born artists most celebrated paintings, a work of Surrealist figurative imagination that combines the interior of the human body with the imagery of the natural world. Tchelitchew, who fled revolutionary Russia and settled in Paris before moving to New York, developed a style of painting in which the human figure is transformed into a landscape of internal organs, botanical forms, and optical phenomena that suggest the body is both a container and a transparent vessel through which the external world can be seen. The study format allows the viewer to observe the working process of an artist who was known for his meticulous preparation and his habit of making numerous studies before arriving at the final composition, and the pen and blue ink lines that define the forms in the study reveal the Linear structure that underlies the more atmospheric treatment of the finished painting. The watercolor medium, with its capacity for transparent washes and rapid execution, allows Tchelitchew to explore color relationships and tonal values that will be refined in the final painting, making the study a document of the creative process rather than a mere preliminary sketch. The year 1935 places this study in the period when Tchelitchew was producing some of his most accomplished work, before his increasing involvement with the theater and his growing interest in esoteric philosophy transformed his painting.

Tchelitchews studies are important documents for understanding his creative process, and the Study for Cous-Cous reveals the meticulous preparation that underlies his most celebrated paintings. His work influenced the development of Surrealist figurative painting and the broader tradition of body-landscape imagery.

A 1935 watercolor and pen and ink study by Tchelitchew for his painting Cous-Cous, revealing the creative process and Linear structure underlying the finished work in which the human body is transformed into a landscape of internal organs and botanical forms.