Vladimir Tretchikoff KITSCH Painting: The Green Lady / Chinese Girl – Full story – Model Monika Pon (photos) – Auction price – Prints of painting for Sale – Painting on Exhibition
This is the story of the World’s most famous example of KITSCH ART, the painting by Vladimir Tretchikov entitled “Chinese Girl” but more popularly known as “The Green Lady” because of the instantly recognisable greenish blue tinge to the girl’s face. The painting was created by the artist as an oil painting on canvas in 1952 when he was living in Cape Town, South Africa. It was subsequently published as a print and quickly became the most popular print ever published in the Twentieth Century, selling over time literally millions of copies.
The model for The Green Lady was Monica Sing-Lee, also known by her married name PON-SU-SAN or simply Monica Pon. She met the artist whilst she was working in her uncle’s laundry. She is variously reported as being between 17-20 years old when she sat for the portrait. The artist paid her about £6 for six weeks of sittings before an audience of his art students. When it was finished, Monika reportedly said: “I don’t like the green. It makes me look ill”. More recently she said that she never made any money from the picture, apart from the £6 presumably.
This famous painting appeared at the very beginning of the era of Mass Market Art , typically dubbed Second Half of the 20th Century Kitsch Art, and represents by far the most well known example of the genre. So much so that the painting is popularly referred to as the Mona Lisa of Kitsch.
The painting was first sold directly by Tretchikoff to an American woman in Chicago when he was touring the USA in the 1950s. Then nothing more was heard of the picture until it appeared at Bonhams in London in March and eventually achieved a staggering auction price of nearly £1 million. The purchaser was the British jeweller Laurence Graff. Tretchikoff himself was always at a loss to understand why the picture had become so popular.
The mysteries remain. Why is she so green? Why are only the face and the hair fully painted? Why does she wear a 19th century Chinese gown and Max Factor lipstick? How old is she intended to be? (Monika is variously reported as being 17-20 at the time but in the painting perhaps looks a little older.) Critics have generally disliked the painting ever since it was created but nevertheless agree that it has an ambience that mesmerises you. Andy Warhol should have the last word on this. He said: “It has to be good. If it were bad, so many people wouldn’t like it.”
On the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip in early 2020, Charlie Ross bought a framed print of “the Chinese Girl” for very little money. Disappointingly, it only fetched about £50 when it was subsequently auctioned on the show. Charlie commented that it was possibly because it was rather faded and said such copies tended to take on a rather bluer tinge as they aged if exposed to too much sunlight. So much so that such copies tend to be referred to disparagingly as “The Blue Lady”.
Vladimir Tretchikoff died in Cape Town on August 26th 2006. Monic Pon died in Johannesburg on June 14th 2017.
Picture of Monika Pon in later life (Artlyst.com)
Tretchikoff Green Lady on Wikipedia
Where to buy a copy of Tretchikoff’s Green Lady: A number of retailers offer modern reprints of the Green Lady for sale, often with framing option to the buyer’s taste. These include Kingand Mcgaw, Redbubble, Amazon and the Official Tretchikoff Shop
Where to see the Green Lady for real on exhibition: The original of the Tretchikoff Green Lady painting was on public view until recently at an exhibition at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town dedicated to the work of the artist. Unfortunately this exhibition closed on January 21st 2020 and it is not yet known where or when the painting will go on public show again.
Full profile of artist Vladimir Tretchikoff on World Art and Artists
Heritage Art – Artismus247 – January 22nd 2020. Your comments by email please to the author of this piece: jameskt22@aol.com