''Chinese Girl'' (often popularly known as ''The Green Lady'') is a 1952 painting by Vladimir Tretchikoff. Mass-produced prints of the work in subsequent years were among the best-selling of the twentieth century. The painting is of a Chinese young woman and is best known for the unusual skin tone used for her face—a blue-green colour, which gives the painting its popular name ''The Green Lady''. Though Tretchikoff maintained that the first version of this painting had been destroyed in Cape Town and he painted a new version during his 1953 tour of the US, researchers have found no proof of this claim. The original sold for £982,050 at

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

auction house in London on 20 March 2013. It was purchased by British jeweller

Laurence Graff Laurence Graff (born 13 June 1938) is an English jeweller and billionaire businessman, best known as the founder of Graff Diamonds, supplier of jewellery and jewels. Early life Graff was born in Stepney in 1938 into a Jewish family, the son of ...

. Since 30 November the same year, it has been on public display at Delaire Graff Estate near Stellenbosch, South Africa. Some scenes of

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's film ''

Frenzy ''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel ''Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Squar ...

'' (1972) show portraits of the model Monika Sing-Lee (later Monika Pon-su-san, her married nam

by Tretchikoff, including this one. The picture is also used as the front cover for the 1990s album ''

Slap! ''Slap!'' is the fourth studio album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. A radical redefinition of the band's sound and attitude, the songs now inspires dancing more than moshing, and the lyrics are celebratory as opposed to victimist. The co ...

'' by the British band

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enou ...

Model

Monika Sing-Lee was around twenty at the time, and had some European ancestry. Also known by her married name, Pon-Su-San, she was encountered by Tretchikoff, at the suggestion of Russian dancer Masha Arsenyeva, while working in her uncle's launderette in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa. Pon-Su-San died in Johannesburg on 14 June 2017.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Face to face with the woman who is Tretchi's Chinese Girl
at ''

Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'' is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular cultu ...

''
'Chinese Girl': The Mona Lisa of kitsch
at ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''
'I never made money from the Green Lady,' says Tretchikoff's model
at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''
Gaze of the Green Lady
at

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

"I was the Chinese Girl in Tretchikoff's painting"
BBC News.
Used as an example
of

kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...

in the BBC TV quiz show '' QI''. 1952 paintings Paintings by Vladimir Tretchikoff

Model

See also

References

External links