Tretchikoff poser a real poser

Do you know this woman? Better yet, are you this woman? If you are, Russian author Boris Gorelik is looking for you.

His biography of artist Vladimir Tretchikoff will hit the shelves this week and tomorrow the painting, Hindu Dancer, will go under the hammer in Cape Town.

"It is not one of Tretchikoff's most famous works but it is significant because it is one of his first portraits to explore fully the exotic dress and outlook of his subjects," said Gorelik, whose book is entitled Incredible Tretchikoff.

"Besides, it's probably the first of his 'action' studies, in which he tried to capture motion on canvas in the same way that Futurists had done before him. I would love to know who the model was."

A Sunday Times article in 1959 unmasked the Hindu dancer: "Among 6000 visitors to the exhibition yesterday was the beautiful 5ft 1in, professional dancer from Durban Champa Chameli, who posed for Tretchikoff's Hindu Dancer - the centrepiece of his US tour - and Indian Dancer. She attracted much attention in the crowded gallery."

But Gorelik has contacted Indian dance organisations and historians of the Indian community and "nobody seemed to know her".

Auction house Stephan Welz expects the artwork to fetch close to R1-million.