With her startling copper green face and the sparse background, 'Chinese Girl' may not be the most obvious masterpiece -- but it became one of the best-selling prints of all time and is expected to raise up to $750,000 at auction Wednesday.
The once obscure portrait by Russian Vladimir Tretchikoff, painted in 1951, is to be sold at auction in London by Bonhams.
It is now said to be the most widely reproduced and arguably one of the most recognizable pictures in the world, from the 1950s prints of the work which were sold widely in South Africa, Britain, Europe and America.
The picture was bought directly from Tretchikoff by an American woman, Mignon Buhler in Chicago when he was touring the US in the 1950s.
It has been in the same family ever since and is being sold by the original buyer's granddaughter.
In 1954, Buhler paid $2,000, compared to the $750,000 it could fetch at auction later, according to Bonhams auctioneers.
"It was painted in 1953 by Vladimir Tretchikoff and for his tour of the U.S. of that year and he took it on tour of the US and it was quite well received out there. He then sold it at the end of that tour to a family in Chicago and really there it remained but before doing that he had taken some prints of the work and I suppose that's how its fame came out because these prints were the best-selling fine art prints in the world," said Giles Peppiatt from auction house Bonhams.
Tretchikoff himself claimed that by the end of his career he had sold half a million large-format reproductions of the 'Chinese Girl' print worldwide.
Today, 'Chinese Girl' mugs, wallpaper and other associated paraphernalia are widely available.
The 'Chinese Girl' is inspired by the sitter Monika Sing-Lee, who was working at her uncle's laundrette in Sea Point, Cape Town when Tretchikoff spotted her and asked her to model for him.
As well as products, 'Chinese Girl' has also inspired a tribute in song which was composed by British cabaret singer Tricity Vogue.
Her Edinburgh Fringe shows The Blue Lady Sings and The Blue Lady Sings again were inspired by the character in the picture.
"She's my muse. It's quite overwhelming to meet the picture for real that you've based four years of your life around and your work around. I never thought that I would actually see the picture for real because when I researched it I thought it had been destroyed," said Tricity Vogue, who had been invited by Bonhams to see the picture after reading about the sale.
Tretchikoff's value has risen exponentially in the art market in recent years, thanks in part to the first major retrospective held in South Africa in 2011.