I was the face of Vladimir Tretchikoff’s Chinese Girl
PEOPLE in famous pictures presents Monika Pon-su-san, the subject of Vladimir Tretchikoff’s portrait Chinese Girl. Says she of the reassuringly expensive artwork, that helped make the artist “significant”:
“I thought I looked like a monster from a horror film – I pulled an ugly face and said ‘Ugh – green face!’ ”
…
“I liked him very much. He was a funny man – we always laughed a lot. In all, I was paid six pounds and five shillings for the work. He had a class of about 20 pupils. All the time I was sitting for him they could see me but I was never allowed to see the painting – it always had its back to me.
I would nag him: “What are you going to call it?” He said that a name would come to him later on. It was only at the end of the six or 10 weeks – I can’t remember exactly how long it took – on the night his exhibition opened that he said it was called Chinese Girl. I thought that was very ordinary.
Well, yes. It is. Like the simple name, the picture makes you notice what’s not there.
Spotter: BBC
Posted: 7th, May 2013 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
