Notes

For the first time in half a century, these two paintings are to be presented on a South African auction. They were never part of a Tretchikoff exhibition in this country, although briefly displayed by the artist once outside Trust Bank, Cape Town, c1970s. By an arrangement with the artist, neither of these works have ever been reproduced in his illustratedbbooks or as lithographs for framing.

The pictures conclude two remarkable series that Tretchikoff started at the earliest stage of his painting career. The Balinese Dancer (lot 237) is the last of his depictions of island beauties, including the Balinese Girl, which became a bestselling print in Britain, Canada and elsewhere in the Commonwealth. The Zulu Maiden (lot 236) is his last portrait of a representative of this African community.

In 1973, both paintings were purchased by Mark Harding of Kimberley, a prominent building contractor, property investor and collector of Eastern art and antiques. Harding and his wife selected the newly produced works at the artist’s studio in Cape Town. The works were being prepared to be sent to Britain for exhibition. Harding and Tretchikoff agreed that the pictures would be delivered to Kimberley after the shows.

It was a particularly busy year for Tretchikoff. On the last leg of his tour of Britain, he held solo shows in Manchester and Edinburgh. The venues were traditionally lush: especially appointed galleries at Sir Hugh Fraser’s department stores where music by Grieg and Tchaikovsky played in the background while the visitors studied the forty-five canvasses in metal frames. As Tretchikoff signed copies of his newly released autobiography Pigeon’s Luck, a BBC crew was filming him for a documentary on the extraordinary success of his reproductions with the British public.

That was also the year when The Daily Telegraph came up with the now famous moniker, ‘The King of Kitsch’. Tretchikoff’s crowd-pulling powers were strong and the total attendance of his British tour exceeded half a million. When told that the art world looked down on him, Tretchikoff replied, ‘Boy, you have to climb up very high to do that.’

—Boris Gorelik, 2022

Provenance

Acquired from the artist in 1973 by Mark Harding, and thence by descent.