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| Chinese Girl portrait sale nears £1m mark | Chinese Girl portrait sale nears £1m mark |
| (1 day later) | |
| Vladimir Tretchikoff's painting Chinese Girl, thought to be the world's most reproduced print, has sold at auction in London for £982,050 ($1,500). | |
| The sum, which includes a 12% buyer's premium, was around twice what had been predicted by auction house Bonhams. | The sum, which includes a 12% buyer's premium, was around twice what had been predicted by auction house Bonhams. |
| It was thought the portrait of a young Chinese girl with green-hued skin and ruby lips would fetch up to £500,000. | It was thought the portrait of a young Chinese girl with green-hued skin and ruby lips would fetch up to £500,000. |
| It was bought by British businessman and jeweller Laurence Graff and will go on public display in South Africa. | It was bought by British businessman and jeweller Laurence Graff and will go on public display in South Africa. |
| According to a Bonhams representative, the painting will be exhibited, alongside the rest of the diamond retailer's art collection, at the Delaire Graff Estate, near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape. | According to a Bonhams representative, the painting will be exhibited, alongside the rest of the diamond retailer's art collection, at the Delaire Graff Estate, near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape. |
| The sale, the spokesman added, fetched more than double the highest price - £384,000 - previously raised at auction by a Tretchikoff work. | The sale, the spokesman added, fetched more than double the highest price - £384,000 - previously raised at auction by a Tretchikoff work. |
| Tretchikoff, who grew up in Russia and Shanghai, eventually settled in South Africa in 1946 and completed the Chinese Girl in Cape Town in 1953. | Tretchikoff, who grew up in Russia and Shanghai, eventually settled in South Africa in 1946 and completed the Chinese Girl in Cape Town in 1953. |
| His model was Monika Sing-Lee, then 17, whom he spotted working at her uncle's launderette in Sea Point, Cape Town. | His model was Monika Sing-Lee, then 17, whom he spotted working at her uncle's launderette in Sea Point, Cape Town. |
| In his 1973 memoir Pigeon's Luck, the artist said he had put his "heart and soul" into a painting he hoped had "caught the essence of Chinese womanhood". | In his 1973 memoir Pigeon's Luck, the artist said he had put his "heart and soul" into a painting he hoped had "caught the essence of Chinese womanhood". |
| Its popularity led to Tretchikoff, who died in 2006, being labelled the "king of kitsch" - though his foundation describes him as "the people's painter". | Its popularity led to Tretchikoff, who died in 2006, being labelled the "king of kitsch" - though his foundation describes him as "the people's painter". |