FlashBack | Tretchikoff King of Kilsch | Issue 15

Art, like fashion, is subject to cycles it seems. One of the names that is currently being rejuvenated, refreshed and revitalised to audiences across the world – most of whom would not have been alive in his era – is Vladimir Tretchikoff.

Self-Portrait

Tretchikoff was born in 1913 in Russia and lived a remarkable life, full of adventure, love and superstition, as detailed in his
autobiography, Pigeon’s Luck. Our hero’s tale begins in Russia, then moves at an epic pace through Manchuria, Shanghai, Singapore and finally to Java where he visits a séance with his muse, Lenka. During this chance encounter, Tretchikoff consulted a Ouija board to find out if his wife and daughter – from whom he was separated at the outbreak of World War II – were well. They replied in the affirmative, prompting Tretchikoff to inquire about their specific location S-O-U-T-H… was the cryptic response.

Further communiqués with the spirit realm foretold his imminent worldwide acclaim, right down to the names of his works that would be the most successful (O-R-I-E-N-T-A-L-L-A-D-Y, for example). Tretchikoff was initially dubious of these predictions of international recognition, being virtually under house arrest in Java in the middle of the war, yet he nevertheless headed to South Africa where he was eventually reunited with his family. It would take a few more years for the subsequent prophecies to materialise but, as we all know now, they were spot on.

Miss Wrong 44x34cm

Once settled in Cape Town, he began itching to hold an exhibition but the Association of the Arts deemed his work ‘unsuitable’. This would only help to fuel the fire of his determination that never faltered in the face of ongoing adversary. As an artist he was adored by the public but the critics did not see it the same way, dubbing him ‘The King of Kitsch’. His use of colour was described as ‘lurid’ or ‘garish’ and his paintings were generally regarded as ‘tasteless’. Despite being disavowed by the art fraternity in the country he would call home for more than sixty years, he went on to tour America with great success. ‘The Chinese Girl’ – undoubtedly his most famous work – became one of the most iconic art pieces of all time.

Over the decades since he first began to garner mass appeal, Tretchikoff prints have been sold in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. In fact, his prints have outsold those of his now much better known contemporaries.

His fame allowed him to stage one of the biggest exhibitions of all time in Harrods, where people queued around the block to get a glimpse of the man and his work.

Tretchikoff was a marketing visionary who began by selling his prints for only $1, thereby making fine art accessible to the masses on a previously unimagined scale. In a sense he had created Pop Art before the term had even been coined. Wayne Hemingway, the legendary English fashion designer, said of him: “Tretchikoff achieved everything that Andy Warhol stated he wanted to, but could never achieve because of his coolness.”

Balinese Girl 37 x 33cm

Tretchikoff once remarked that the only difference between himself and Vincent van Gogh was that the ill-fated Dutch painter died a pauper, whereas he became wealthy. Nevertheless, neither’s work was truly appreciated for what it was and they never lived to see the fame that they had deservedly earned. Saatchi & Saatchi Gallery UK is about to release a list of the top two hundred most influential artists of the 20th century, and Tretchikoff has once again been snubbed. His name wasn’t even on the shortlist of people to vote for – even though his artwork is amongst the most iconic and well recognised of all time.

Today his granddaughter Natasha Mercorio has established the Tretchikoff Renaissance in Cape Town, an initiative intent on rekindling the public’s love of this great artist by using his images in amazing new formats. Some of these will be deservingly expensive, but most – as the King of Kitsch originally intended – are aimed at the hoi polloi, who will hopefully once again embrace his art for what it was and still is: an expression of his passion and his love for art and painting. The revival of his legacy will undoubtedly inspire a new generation of artists fortunate enough to live in a more open-minded era. His uncompromising and passionate approach to his work should, in fact, be an inspiration to us all.