Iconic Art Death

Artist Vladimir Tretchikoff, whose painting Chinese Girl is believed to be the best-selling commercial art print of all time, has died. Tretchikoff, who painted with oils and watercolours, died in hospital in Cape Town on Saturday. He was 92. Self-taught, he was regarded as one of the best artists in South Africa, his home since 1946. Tretchikoff was born in Siberia in 1913, lived through the Russian revolution and survived a stint in a prison camp in Java during the Second World War. His art was often regarded as "kitsch" - pretentious bad taste - but Tretchikoff hated this categorisation and insisted he was a serious artist. His most popular art work, Chinese Girl (1950), was also known as The Green Lady. It became a hit with art buyers around the world and is reported to have sold more prints than Da Vinci's Mona Lisa or Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Tretchikoff gave up art after he had a stroke in 2002. For the full story - click the title Irish Art