JOHANNESBURG, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Following being overseas over dozens of years the famous South African painting Chinese Girl is coming back home, local media reported Thursday.
The painting Chinese Girl was bought at the final bidding price of 13.8 million rands (about 1.53 million U.S. dollars) by a South African jewelry businessman at an auction house in London on Wednesday, said the South African popular newspaper Star.
The Chinese Girl was painted by South African artist Vladimir Tretchikoff in 1951, being regarded as one of the world's most recognizable modern paintings.
Vladimir Tretchikoff was born in Russia, later moved to the Chinese financial city of Shanghai before settling in South Africa.
The painting was sold to a U.S. citizen in the 1950s, staying in that country ever since, according to the paper.
The painting's character was a Chinese girl named Pon Su-san, who was working at her uncle's laundry in the western South African city of Cape Town as she became the painting character, said the paper.
As required by the painter, the Chinese girl sat two days a week for 10 consecutive weeks for the portrait, though she finally only got the pay of the modern-day equivalent of 1900 rands (about 200 U.S. dollars).
The painting Chinese Girl will soon be displayed with other art works in Cape Town.
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