Questions and Answers:
Questions for Vladimir Tretchikoff
Interviewer: "Good afternoon, Mr. Tretchikoff."
Vladimir Trethikoff: "Good afternoon."
Interviewer: "What is your full name?"
Vladimir Trethikoff: "Vladimir Grigoryevich Tretchikoff."
Interviewer: "If I say you are a self-thought-out Russian-born artist, am I correct?"
Vladimir Trethikoff: "Yes, that is correct."
Interviewer: "Thank you. Can you please tell me the meaning of the name you carry, Vladimir?"
Vladimir Trethikoff: "My name is a very well-known name in the countries of Slavica and Russia. The meaning of my name,
Vladimir, is a very powerful name in my country, where I was born and where I lived until the new order of the Soviet Union. It means to rule with greatness; you can also say ruler of peace or the world."
Interviewer: "Mr. Tretchikoff, can you tell us what your lucky number is and why?"
Vladimir Trethikoff: "My lucky number is 13. I was born on December 13, 1913, in Kazakhstan. I am a very superstitious man, but still, I believe in the number 13."
Interviewer: "Tell me what happened during 1917–1922."
Vladimir Trethikoff: "That specific time was after the Russian Revolution, and my family and I moved far east of Russia."
Interviewer: "Why did you move to that side of the country?"
Vladimir Trethikoff: "The only reason I can remember is because we tried to escape the Soviet Republic."
Interviewer: "Why did you and your family, and I also believe a lot of other Russians tried to escape the Soviet Union? Can you tell us more?"
Vladimir Tretchikoff: "What happened was that in my country, Russia, the new Russia after the bloody revolution, there was political and social change in the Soviet Republic that forced a lot of Russians to leave and go live somewhere else."
Interviewer: "Was it hard for you and your family to move away from your town, which you called home?"
Vladimir Tretchikoff: "Yes, it was very difficult for my parents. We end up in China with just a few belongings."
Interviewer: "What do you think was the feeling of the people who were not pro-government and could not flee the country?"
Vladimir Tretchikoff: "Well, what could they do? They must live with this new Union Republic, so they need to adapt or die. I feel sorry for the people with this long struggle they had and follow it always on the news. I mean, the fall of the Berlin Wall gave a lot of artists control over their art, which they did not have during communism. Remember, all of a sudden, the artists living in those countries had sudden freedom of artistic creativity, and that changed the art of the artist; they walked into a new area of their own creativity."
Interviewer: "Did the Chinese Girl or your painting, also known as "The Green Lady," have a connection with the fact that you lived in China?"
Vladimir looked at me, and there was silence. I could see his thoughts were very far away, and I was wondering what was going through his mind.
Interviewer: "You remember the Chinese girls?"
Vladimir Tretchikoff: He looked at me with a smile and started to laugh.
Interviewer: "Sorry, I went over to the next question. Mr. Tretchikoff, please tell me, To move to another country or a new country because of politics, it must have been hard to do for your family."
Vladimir Tretchikoff: "Yes, it was; my father could not get a job in China, so we were very poor and cold."
Interviewer: "You and your family were cold."
Vladimir Tretchikoff nodded and said, "Yes."
There was a silence between us, and we just looked at each other. I did not know what to say, but all I could do was listen.
Interviewer: "Did you ever think of going back to Russia?"
Vladimir Tretchikoff: "I was only 11 years old when my mother passed away."
Interviewer: "What did she die of?"
Vladimir Tretchikoff: "She died of typhus; it was high fever, and so forth; she was really very sick. I was the youngest of eight children, so it was very tense for me to lose my mother at such a young age. I remember when she was busy dying, I took a pencil and started to draw her to keep her face in my memory. One of the reasons I did that was because we could not afford photography, so all I could do was draw her."
Interviewer: "Is it possible to make that sketch public for us to see?"
Vladimir Tretchikoff: 'No."
Interviewer: "I am really sorry about your loss. I still need to know if you ever want to go back to Russia. I mean, your father left the house because he struggled to deal with your mother's death. I mean, was it hard for you and your siblings to have your mother pass away and then hear that your father might drown himself in a river? It must have been very difficult for you at that age; I mean, at that time of your life, you need your mommy and daddy."
Vladimir Tretchikoff: "I thought of going back but am very glad that I did not, and I went and saw the world. I have the freedom to work in theater."
Interviewer: "Yes, theater is something different; the crew and cast became like a family. I remember while studying in theater, after a production, you were friends and always started to greet each other. What did you experience?
Vladimir Tretchikoff: "Yes, I was only 16 when I joined the theater in the Opera House in the Chinese-Russian theater. All our children, after our loss, had to jump and find jobs to survive. My dream has been to become an artist in Paris since I was a young boy. I was lucky to find a job. I managed to go to school till I was 16 years old. I went to school, and after hours, I did backdrops at the theater house."
Interviewer: "It takes a lot of teamwork to work on such productions, I know. All the artists are busy getting work done before the curtains open."
Vladimir Tretchikoff: He laughs, and I see the excitement of bittersweetness in his eyes. "Yes, that was teamwork, and I was still very young at the time."
Interviewer: "So tell me, what did you do at such a young age as crew? I mean, you started working when you were 11 years old; that is very young for a boy or a child to work and earn money."
Vladimir Tretchikoff: "Well, in the beginning, I was basically a jack of all trades."
Interviewer: "Runner?"
Vladimir Tretchikoff: "Yes, runner, make coffee, and do all the small jobs the others can't do. That actually made me happy because I feel worth it and that I am helpful. I was proud of myself."
Interviewer: "Mr. Vladimir Tretchikoff, we run out of time. I need to thank you for this wonderful insight into your personal life and all the questions we want to know about you, your pain, your excitement, and above all, your love for art. Thank you for helping me fall in love with your kitsch."
Vladimir Tretchikoff: With a smile, he nodded and looked at me first. He looked at the audience and said, "Thank you."
Interviewer: "I want to leave the audience with a thought: where will the Chinese Girl be in the next 20 years, 40 years, or 50 years?"
- By Pieter Lategan
Copyright: © Pieter Lategan, 2025. All Rights Reserved.
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