Vladimir Tretchikoff’s ‘Chinese Girl’ painting for sale (PHOTOS)
Reproductions of the ‘Chinese Girl’ portrait adorn millions of sitting-room walls around the world.
The most famous painting in the world is for sale.
Russian artist Vladimir Tretchikoff’s original painting of the “Chinese Girl” will go under the hammer in London on March 20.
The BBC reported the portrait of a young Chinese girl, believed to be the most reproduced print in the world, could fetch up to 500,000 pounds, or nearly $800,000.
Tretchikoff painted the portrait, also known as the “Green Lady” because of the girl’s distinctive blue-green skin tone, in Cape Town in 1952, according to the Press Association.
The model was Monika Sing-Lee. Tretchikoff spotted the then 17-year-old working in her uncle’s launderette in the South African city, where the artist lived.
According to the Cape Argus, an American woman bought the painting directly from Tretchikoff in the 1950s and it has remained in her family ever since. The picture is being sold by the woman’s granddaughter.
Tretchikoff, who died in 2006, claimed he had sold 500,000 large-format reproductions of the print worldwide.
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