Chrysanthemums

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by the previous owner.

Private Collection.

Notes

Tretchikoff described his style as 'symbolic realism'. And nowhere was this more prominent than in his flower studies. He first painted flowers in Java, enchanted by the rainbow-like colours of the cannas in his garden. But his fascination with flowers had probably started much earlier, in the Far East. In Chinese culture, each flower symbolises a quality or idea. Flowers are always found on Buddhist altars. The graceful shapes of Chinese vases, emblems of harmony, reproduce the curves of a woman's body.

- Boris Gorelik