Painter Vladimir Griegorovich Tretchikoff, 92
Posted: Wednesday, September 6th, 2006 2:37 pm
JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 5 — Vladimir Griegorovich Tretchikoff, an exile from Siberia whose emotional depictions of wilting flowers, dancers and especially the daughter of a San Francisco Chinese merchant earned both global popularity and critics’ scorn, died in Cape Town on Aug. 26. He was 92.
His daughter, Mimi Mercorio, announced his death. He had been in a Cape Town nursing home, in poor health, since a stroke in 2002. …
If sales are a yardstick, then Mr. Tretchikoff was a Leonardo, and his most popular painting was, as Ms. Mercorio often says, his Mona Lisa. The 1952 painting, variously called “Chinese Girl” and “Blue Lady,” depicts a heavy-lidded young woman clad in a yellow gown, with neon-red lips and a face washed in blue. Published but unverified reports estimate that at least a half-million prints of the portrait have been sold, and many reports rate Mr. Tretchikoff among the world’s best-selling artists. … Read full obituary
