onthewall Vladimir Tretchikoff Chiniese Girl Art Print

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Tretchikoff’s Lady of the Orient was on the wall above my Nan’s mantelpiece, and above the mantelpiece of tens of thousands of Nans,’ writes Hemingway on the Surface View blog. To him, the iconic image evokes: ‘…an era of innocence and exotica. Blown up, it’s timelessly cool.’ I said: 'Oh. So what did you title them?' And he replied: Chinese Girl. What a disappointment. I thought it'd be something more imaginative." Soon after the exhibition, Sing-Lee married and moved to Johannesburg. She and Tretchikoff lost touch and she never posed for another artist. In fact, they might never have met again if it wasn't for a discovery that Monika made, years later. "To be honest, I never liked the green face that he gave me. When my sister-in-law brought me a print of Chinese Girl as a gift, I turned it down. But in the late 1990s, I saw a documentary about Tretchikoff on TV and couldn't believe my eyes. I knew Chinese Girl was popular, but I had no idea it was that famous." The show also ended up travelling to Canada in 1962. Tretchikoff had a large exhibition at Harrods in London, this exhibition was attended by a whopping two hundred and five thousand visitors. After moving to Singapore he held his first exhibition, aged 20, became a propaganda artist for British Intelligence and was imprisoned in Java. Here he developed his style as a painter of warm colours and exotic subjects. They rowed to Java which took another 19 days and when they got to Java it was also occupied. Food has now run out and they desperatelyneeded supplies.

Tretchikoff’s father couldn’t deal with losing the love of his life, he didn’t wantto live without his wife, so one day he left home and was never to be seen again – it is believed that he walked into a frozen river and drowned.Tretchikoff's art is full of contradiction and has probably received more praise and criticism than that of any other 20th-century artist. His public acclaim was first examined in the 1974 BBC documentary The Green Lady, directed by Alan Yentob. The programme opens with the art critic, William Feaver, saying, "Let us examine this painting, arguably the most unpleasant work of art to be published in the 20th century. You've got flat form, hair that is not hair at all but is simply an opaque layer of dull and insipid paint. You have shoulders which have no substance, you have muzzy line work." Prints can be directly on hardboard or simply paper prints behind frames. The hardboard ones are more durable and so in brighter and better condition as there is no issue of tearing or creasing. He felt like the flower was left alone crying, we could now possibly see this flower as a symbol of the destruction of beauty in a war-torn country.

On another occasion they admitted the truth is that we cannot afford anyof his paintings and even if they could, his bestworks were now no longer available. The artist had sold them long ago and the owners had no intentionof parting with them. In 1941 the Japanese invaded Singapore. Natalie and Mimi were evacuated and Tretchikoff also managed to escape shortly after by boat to the Indonesian island of Java. On his eventual arrival Tretchikoff was dismayed to find that this island had also been invaded by the Japanese; he was captured and then placed into solitary confinement for three months after he asserted his rights as a Soviet national. It was his talent as an artist which ensured his freedom. The camp’s General admired the way Tretchikoff stood up for himself when being refused his fifteen minutes of exercise, so in return set him free on the condition that he prove himself to the artist Kono, otherwise he would be returned to prison. Reporting to Kono, Tretchikoff painted scenery for a gala performance staged at Djakarta. His captives were so impressed with his talent that he never did return to prison. By looking at these dates we gather that he lived for a long long time and he survived quite a lot: Finally Monika decided to get a reproduction of her own. When she was in Cape Town, she phoned him anonymously. He told her he only had one print left and he had no intention of parting with it. When Tretchikoff suffered a stroke in 2002 which left him unable to paint and he died the 26th of August in 2006 in Cape Town which was his home since 1946. He was survived by his wife Natalie, his daughter Mimi, four granddaughters and five great-grandchildren. Natalie died soon after in 2007.Eventually, Tretchikoff recognised Sing-Lee. He took a poster of Chinese Girl from the wall and gave it to her. "He rolled it up carefully and put it in a tube. He loved his works as if they were living beings."

Tretchikoff and his brother decided to leave schooland to leave China, they wanted to go to Paris. Unfortunately, their money wasn’t enough and they only got as far as Shanghaiso they decided to rent a flat and get other tenants to join them to increase the income and once they had enough money then they would leave for Paris. At a particular hut Tretchikoff saw crayons and paper in the corner and he started drawing what happened to them. With the pictures he could explain their saga and their plight: the ship being bombed; them escaping on a row boat and rowing for more than 800 kilometres. Tretchikoff’s Prints is the next vintage obsession from Interiors Journalist (and Vintage Shopping Addict), Ellie Tennant. The correct name for the piece is Chinese Girl. The artist, Vladimir Tretchikoff, was the world's first mass-market artist and his commercial success was an inspiration to many other artists. He was born in Siberia, but when aged only four, the 1917 Russian Revolution scattered his family around the globe. He emigrated to China, was orphaned at 11 and became a professional artist at the age of 13. His most famous artworks include Chinese Girl, Mrs Wong and the Balinese Girl but he was sneered at by the elitist art world and often called the ‘King of Kitsch’ but Tretchikoff has made a fortune by defying the art establishment.

Let’s look at one of the paintings he created thathelped him create this world fame! Green lady, also known as Chinese girl. Well soon Tretchikoff was invited to come and exhibit in America but two months before his departure to the USA somebody broke into the storeroom where his paintings were kept and sliced them all to shreds with a knife. When Tretchikoff tried to confirm his booking with the gallery they had cancelled it and he couldn’t understand why? Later it was revealed that Irma stern went to the gallery and said “you cannot possibly exhibit that rubbish of Tretchikoff”. Irma Stern believed in German Expressionism and she didn’t like Tretchikoff’s style at all.

Eventually, the people of Russia had had enough they wanted Tsar Nicholas gone and they wanted to share all the wealth, this movement is called the Russian revolution and it happened in 1917. Tretchikoff’s dad started feeling very scared because the family had money and a nice big home. Tretchikoff painted his subjects was often inspired by his early life in China,Singapore, Indonesia and later his life in South Africa and its wonderful cultures Tretchikoff didn’t show at galleries, he exhibited his art at shopping malls and massive department storesbecause he believed that that is where the people are. What was Tretchikoff’s style? He thought that maybe somebody from the art community that hated his art and style so much or even the government was behind all of this.Tretchikoff spotted this discarded orchid on the steps when he left the war camp and was released on parole. In Indonesia orchids were 10 times more expensive than roses. It was a massive luxury to be given an orchid. Tretchikoff once said that the only difference between himself and Vincent vanGogh was that van Gogh starved and he had become rich.