Welcome  to  our weekly  online article

This week  artist Vladimir Tretchikoff is featured.

Vladimir Tretchikoff ( 1913 - )

  

Vladimir Griegorovich Tretchikoff was born in 1913 in Siberia, Russia.

In 1946 he moved to South Africa.


Profile :
 
Tretchikoff is a self taught artist who painted super realistic figures, portraits, still life and animals. He worked in oil, watercolour, ink, charcoal and pencil but is best known for his reproductions of his work that has been sold worldwide over the years. The first series of very high quality reproductions were done by the Repro House Frost & Reed in London and was sold many a time in Lingerie Departments of Departmental Stores. The reproductions were  so popular that it was said once that, Tretchikoff was second to Picasso in his popularity in this field. 
He lived, worked and exhibited in Cape Town, Russia, UK, USA, China and Canada.

Exhibitions :
He exhibited extensively worldwide.
1933 - First of 32 Solo-Exhibitions, Shanghai, China 
1978-99 - Four movies were made about the artist and his genre by the BBC, South African Broadcasting Corporation and Eurovision.

Awards :
1939 - Medal, Gallery of Science and Art, New York 

Although Tretchikoff is now seen as one of South Africa's most prominent living artists, he has never gained the recognition that he deserved as a master of realism. His work has been collected and bought by various collectors locally and internationally but sadly not one of the National Museums or Galleries in this Country bought any of his work. He was never taken seriously by art critics in South Africa,  because of the reproductions done of his work as he was seen as " too much of a commercial artist " and it is only lately that his work has become more and more sought after and have escalated in price at auction houses like Sotheby's South Africa.
 
- Art & Artists of South Africa, Esme Berman, ISBN 1 86812 345 6
- The Dictionary of South African Painters and Sculptors, Grania Oglivie,  Published Everard,
ISBN 0 620 12663 9
back
sitemap