Notes

Boris Gorelik writes:

"In the 1960s, Tretchikoff often travelled to Namibia, or South West Africa, as it was known at the time. He was often accompanied by his business partner, Samuel Collins, a Texan millionaire nicknamed the 'king of sea diamonds'. Collins, who used to carry two guns and wear a diamond-studded belt, pioneered large-scale mining off Namibian shores.

An avid collector of Tretchikoff's paintings, Collins persuaded the artist to buy shares in Marine Diamonds, and the artist invested about R50 000 in the venture. The company was eventually taken over by De Beers.

The trips to Namibia gave Tretchikoff his first opportunity to spend considerable time outside of urban areas and observe African wildlife. Tretchikoff was fascinated and inspired by what he saw.

As a result, by 1972, when his Birmingham exhibition was launched, he had come up with a series of zebra paintings. Galloping Zebras was among them.

Showing in Britain for the first time in a decade, Tretchikoff had 172,000 visitors to his exhibition. Equally popular and lucrative exhibitions in Manchester and Edinburgh followed.

Nova, the London Intellectual women's magazine, pronounced 'Once again, Vladimir Tretchikoff has demonstrated that he is more popular with the British than cricket, the cinema... and any other art show.'"

Provenance

The Tretchikoff Family Private Collection