This painting was given to the Prima Ballerina, Alsoluta Tamara Toumanova, in Paris. They remain friends for life. He made many drawings and paintings of her and costume designs for her various roles. La Toumanova gave this painting to the parents of the current owner. While the artist told La Toumanova that the painting depicted a rebirth scene of the artist himself, the work really portray the birth of an angel. This painting was done during the Russian Revolution. It is extremely rare to fine any works done by Tchewlitchew which he was still in Russia. It is clearly part of the revolution in art or Russian Avant Garde. There is a freedom of line, Symbolism and Futurism incorporated in this Self Portrait.

Russian born Surrealist painter, Pavel Tchelitchew (1898-1957) was heavily influenced by his tutors: Alexandra Exter, a pupil of Léger and the director of the School for Painters and Stage Designers in Kiev, and Isaac Rabinovitch, a Cubist-Constructionist artist. Upon moving to Paris, Tchelitchew's paintings began to veer away from abstraction towards representational work, experimenting with perspective and automatism. Tchelichew's work has been exhibited throughout the world, including the Bruce Museum, Greenwich, FL; Katonah Art Museum, Katonah, NY; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires, Brazil; and Salon d'Automne, Paris, France.