Tretchikoff portrait sets new auction record at R31.9m

STRAUSS & Co set a new world record for Russia-born South African painter Vladimir Tretchikoff this week with the sale of his 1955 portrait Lady from the Orient for R31 892 000.

- STAFF REPORTER

The iconic painting was sold to an anonymous telephone bidder after a dramatic flurry of 89 bids, narrowly beating a determined in-room contender at the live auction in Johannesburg.

The final price, inclusive of commission and taxes, comfortably eclipses the previous world record for a Tretchikoff work, set at £982050 in March 2013 at a London auction for Chinese Girl (1952).

"It is always good when there is a murmur before a big lot," said auctioneer Alastair Meredith as he introduced Lady from the Orient.