Footnotes

Provenance
A private collection.

Exhibited
London, Harrods, 1962.

Literature
Andrew Lamprecht, Tretchikoff, The People's Painter, (Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers (PTY) LTD, 2011), p. 153.
Howard Timmins, Tretchikoff, (London: George G.Harrap & Company Limited, 1969).

Featuring in Howard Timmins' book, Woman of the Ndebele is included among some of Tretchikoff's most profound and sensitively executed works. The image of the work is accompanied by the following caption which acknowledges Ndebele women as 'noted for the artistic decoration of the walls of their mud houses and courtyards which they paint with clays and ochres taken often from prehistoric deposits, using bold and intricate geometrical patterns in red and blue, yellow and black.' (Timmins)

Depicting a Ndebele woman, wearing adornments that display her high social ranking, the central figure is superimposed against a wall painted in the traditional Ndebele style. Beyond her striking presence and portrayal, a strong understanding of light and shadow plays a primary role in this piece; emphasised also by the glass bead that rests on the subject's forehead. The shadow cast behind the subject and with the application of thick impasto paint, Tretchikoff allows exposure of the prominent textural accents and colour of the wall. Sensitively defining her facial features, gazing down in the strong contrast of the sunlight that illuminates her, Vladimir Tretchikoff exercises a delicacy in portraying her power.

The present work was exhibited at Tretchikoff's first exhibition in Britain, held at Harrods in 1962. The image was reproduced in the Illustrated London News in 1962 and labelled as 'Lady of Ndebele'. It was also reproduced in the Frost & Reed catalogue of Tretchikoff reproductions in the same year and again entitled 'Lady of Ndebele'.

We would like to thank Boris Gorelik for his assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.