Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a charcoal drawing by Pavel Tchelitchew. It dates from 1922 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1922, this untitled drawing by Pavel Tchelitchew combines ink and pencil on a sheet of paper now in the Museum of Modern Art’s collection. The composition is dominated by stark black lettering and abstract shapes set against a light, weathered surface. Overlapping fragments of Russian text appear in irregular, jagged forms, emphasizing visual rhythm over legibility.
Subject & Meaning
The work foregrounds the materiality of language, treating letters as graphic elements rather than carriers of meaning. By stretching, breaking, and intersecting characters, Tchelitchew transforms written symbols into a visual field that suggests the tension between communication and abstraction, a concern that recurs throughout his interdisciplinary practice.
Technique & Style
Ink provides the bold, high‑contrast outlines of the letters, while pencil adds subtle shading, smudges, and faint marks that reveal the paper’s texture. The uneven, slanted strokes and occasional gaps create a sense of spontaneity, aligning the piece with the experimental graphic approaches of early 1920s surrealism.
History & Provenance
The drawing entered the Museum of Modern Art’s holdings as part of its early‑20th‑century modern art acquisitions, reflecting MoMA’s interest in avant‑garde Russian émigré artists. Its provenance traces back to the artist’s own studio, where it was likely produced alongside his set and costume designs.
Context
Tchelitchew’s background as a painter, set designer, and costume designer informed his hybrid visual language, merging figurative motifs with surrealist experimentation. In the early 1920s, Russian expatriates in Paris were exploring the boundaries between text and image, and this drawing exemplifies that cross‑disciplinary inquiry.
Artist & collection
Artist
Pavel Fyodorovich Tchelitchew ( Che-LIT-chev; Russian: Па́вел Фёдорович Чели́щев) (3 October 1898 – 31 July 1957) was a Russian-born surrealist painter, set designer and costume designer.
