''Red Jacket'' is a 1998 documentary film about the life of the world's best-selling artist,

Vladimir Tretchikoff Vladimir Grigoryevich Tretchikoff (Владимир Григорьевич Третчиков, 26August 2006) was an artist whose painting ''Chinese Girl'', popularly known as ''The Green Lady'', is one of the best-selling art prints of the twen ...

. The film was produced by Technitronics and televised by the

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

Synopsis

The documentary charts the life of Tretchikoff, featuring contributions from public figures and Tretchikoff himself. The documentary is titled ''Red Jacket'', Tretchikoff memorably recalled his war-time lover and muse, Lenka, wearing a red jacket when he first meet her. She would later pose as the model in his painting titled ''Red Jacket''.Lady in Green
''Sunday Times''. 22 August 2002

Production

The documentary was researched, produced, and directed by Yvonne du Toit under the auspices of Technitronics. Several of the contributors held a history with Tretchikoff. * Monika Sing-Lee was the subject of '' The Green Lady'', Tretchikoff's most famous painting. Several commentators have stated that her face was just as famous as ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

''. The painting is also the highest-selling print in history. *

Jani Allan Jani Allan (11 September 1952 – 25 July 2023) was a South African journalist, columnist, writer, broadcaster, and media personality. In 1980, Allan became a columnist for a centrist newspaper, the ''Sunday Times'', South Africa's most widel ...

interviewed Tretchikoff in the 1980s for her regular ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' column "Just Jani" that also included interviews with art figures such as

Walter Battiss Walter Whall Battiss (6 January 1906 – 20 August 1982) was a South African artist, also known as the creator of the "Fook Island" concept. Early life Battiss was born into an English Methodist family in the Karoo town of Somerset Eas ...

. She later published a collection of columns as the book ''

Face Value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Ho ...

'' including Tretchikoff's. The background notes she provided revealed that he had insisted she sit for a portrait. Allan was also qualified to speak to the reviewer as she has a background in art. A former art teacher, she graduated with a BA in fine art and an MA history of art from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

. Her former husband,

Gordon Schachat Gordon Schachat (born 25 January 1952) is a South African businessman and art collector. Personal life In 1973, Schachat met his first wife at university, the former '' Sunday Times'' columnist Jani Allan and married her in Mauritius in 1982.< ...

is also a prominent art collector in South Africa.South African market continues to grow
Art info. 10 April 2009 Art critic, Sean O'Toole singled out Allan for her "far more convincing" contributions to the film.Vladimir Tretchikoff at Iziko South African National Gallery
Art Throb. Retrieved on 13 September 2012 *Marilyn Martin is a former director of the

South African National Gallery The Iziko South African National Gallery is the national art gallery of South Africa located in Cape Town. It became part of the Iziko collection of museums – as managed by the Department of Arts and Culture – in 2001. It then became an agenc ...

and considered by some as a detractor. In 2002, the ''

'' reported that the gallery had never acquired works by the man considered by many as the country's leading realist painter. Despite the fact that Tretchikoff has resided in Cape Town for the past 60 years, Martin responded that the gallery had no intention of using the gallery's limited funds in acquiring his works as "he is not really regarded as a South African artist'" nd"the revival of interest in his works would not be sustained." * Beezy Bailey, the South African artist, controversial for exhibiting under the pseudonym of a black African woman, says Tretchikoff's ultimate crime was to appeal to the post-war working classes: "In the 1950s the whole class structure

n Europe and America N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

was as powerful as the apartheid structure in our country. That is why he hasn't been embraced and why he is uncool – his art was not snobby art, it was appreciated by the masses."

Release

The independent production was screened to national audiences on the state broadcaster,

in 1998. Since then it has been distributed for educational purposes by the Western Cape Provincial Library Service who issued a VHS/DVD version. It is commonly used as a resource for art students. The film has since been rebroadcast, most recently on

SABC 2 SABC 2 is a South African free-to-air television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The channel was createdin its current form on 4 February 1996, due to the restructuring of the three national SABC networks. As ...

on 17 July 2011.''Red Jacket''
SABCTV. Retrieved on 12 September 2012 In 2011, the film was projected in a small antechamber at the

as part of a Tretchikoff exhibition.

References

External links

*{{YouTube, nZFtp0nMupY, Opening scenes
Link to the portrait known as ''Red Jacket''
1998 films 1990s English-language films South African documentary films South African art Documentary films about painters 1998 documentary films English-language documentary films 1990s South African films