Le Pho (1907-2001)

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Lot n° 11
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Estimation :
40000 - 60000 EUR
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Result : 123 500EUR
Le Pho (1907-2001)
Petit garçon attablé Ink and color on silk, signed upper left 28.5 x 22.6 cm - 11 1/4 x 8 7/8 in. Considered as one of the leading figures of modern Vietnamese art, Lê Phổ was born in 1907 in Hà Tây province into a respected mandarin family, his father being the last viceroy of Tonkin. Showing a predisposition for painting and drawing, he entered the first class of the Indochina School of Fine Arts in 1925. He was soon noticed by the director and founder of the school, Victor Tardieu, for whom he retained a strong attachment throughout his life. Lê Phổ assimilated to perfection the teachings of his teachers. The school promoted Vietnamese artistic traditions such as painting on silk or lacquer, while sensitizing this new generation of artists to Western history and artistic techniques. Indeed, one can read with ease the influences of the Italian Primitives or the Impressionists in Lê Phổ ‘s works. In 1931, he came to France to present his works on the occasion of the International Colonial Exhibition. He chose to stay in Paris for a year to attend classes at the École des Beaux-Arts, then undertook several trips to Europe. He returned to Vietnam in 1933 and taught at the Indochina School of Fine Arts in Hanoi. He decided to settle permanently in France in 1937 and quickly became very well known. Although Lê Phổ discovered France in 1931 on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition held in Vincennes, where he exhibited some of his works, it was not until 1937, after his return as Artistic Director of the Indochina Section for the Universal Exhibition, that he made France his permanent home. Petit garçon attablé (Little boy at table) was painted during the same period. The talent and great mastery of the painter were already recognized and appreciated by a certain public. He used silk, traditionally Asian, on which he applied colored ink or gouache with a wise gesture, regret not being possible. Petit garçon attablé (Little boy at table) appears to be a rather rare subject in the painter’s production, coming from a series realized at the time of some portraits of young children. If children are regularly found in his works, they often accompany their mother in maternity or genre scenes and they are rarely the only model of the composition. In our composition, a little boy is busy eating a probable bowl of rice with chopsticks. In front of him, soy sauce and food are laid out on a table. He is wearing a traditional outfit and a cap with particularly subtle patterns. The use of silk brings to this composition a certain softness and allows to capture the muffled atmosphere of the scene. The fluidity of the line emphasizes the simplicity of the moment. The strength of this work also lies in the use of soft, harmonious colors. Although colorful, the shades blend together through large flat areas, responding to each other in the form of an echo. The red of the background and the green of the cap blend skillfully with the ochre hues of the outfit and the bowl, thus ensuring a subtle play of contrast. If Victor Tardieu, the director of the Hanoi School of Fine Arts, was able to quickly detect a unique talent in his student Lê Phổ, it is also because the latter stood out by bringing a new vision. Thus, the framing of Petit garçon attablé is resolutely modern. By positioning his model in profile around a table and a kakemono that are purposely not represented in full, Lê Phổ demonstrates a singular vision, able to modernize a seemingly classic subject.
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