Vladimir Tretchikoff's painting "Chinese Girl" sold for almost 1,5 million USD, twice its pre-sale estimate- on March 20, 2013 at Bonham's in London.
The Russian-born South African artist was known as a king of the kitsch portrait during the 1950s and 1960s and his painting was reputedly the most reproduced image in the world.
Dubbed the 'Mona Lisa' of kitsch, "Chinese Girl" was considered as one of the most important pop culture icons" of the mid-20th century especially as millions of lithographs of this work were issued around the planet.
For many years the original picture disappeared from view after it was taken to the U.S. by Tretchikoff for a hugely successful tour in the 1950s during which it was bought by a young fan. All the more, the identity of the model for "Chinese Girl" remained a mystery for decades before she was eventually identified three years ago as being Monika Pon from Johannesburg.
Her uncle had a laundry where she worked in the office where Tretchikoff noticed her and offered to paint her portrait. Although her image went on to feature in the homes of thousands of people around the world she continued to live in poverty during the Apartheid era. When she saw the work finished, Monika did not like it not understanding why Tretchikoff painted her face in greenish tones.
Born in Siberia in 1913, the painter fled Russia as a child during the revolution in 1919, settling with his family in Harbin, China, where he started painting at the city's opera house before moving to Singapore with his wife, a fellow Russian exile. When Singapore fell to the Japanese in World War II, he tried to escape, but his boat sank. After rowing to Java, he spent the rest of the war in a prison camp.
After the war, he moved to South Africa where he continued his artistic career but his work was ignored by the art establishment though it met a huge popular success. In 2002, Tretchikoff suffered a stroke and died four years later at 92.
In South Africa, Tretchikoff discovered he had enemies up to the point that he found many of his paintings, including " Chinese Girl" were slashed before setting off to the U.S. He thus repainted another version from which all the prints were made.
After his death, Tretchikoff's work started to arise interest in South Africa especially after a major retrospective held two years ago at the South African National Gallery, where "Chinese Girl" was shown to the public for the first time in 60 years.
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