MAI trung THU (1906-1980)

Lot 4
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Estimation :
100000 - 150000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 360 880EUR
MAI trung THU (1906-1980)
Jeunes filles aux coussins, 1961 Ink and color on silk, signed and dated lower left, monogramed and titled on the back. In the original frame made by the artist 19,5 x 89,5 cm - 7 11/16 x3 5 1/4 in. In his works, Mai Trung Thu describes the notion of femininity through several somewhat nostalgic perspectives of an idealized past. The female figure represented here lets us perceive the painter’s tender vision of the traditional aesthetics of the beauty of Vietnamese women and a fantasized atmosphere. The three young girls, lying on their sides, are lost in the contemplation of the small white flower that one of them holds with her fingertips. The delicacy of their features mingles with the softness of the flora in which they are lounging. The painter’s assured line brings out the subtle nuances of the rich and vivid palette of this composition, whose symmetry is striking. All three of them placed under a wooden pavilion, they are echoing each other, by their postures as well as by the clothes they wear. Leaning on traditional arm cushions, they have abandoned their occupations. They are distracted by the happy announcement that has just been made and that accompanies the movement of this little flower. The young girl in the center lets her fan fall to the side and the one on the right neglects the letter in her hand. The glances exchanged are full of life, amused and complicit. The scene is played out around a body of water with water lilies dancing in the background. The brightly colored landscape reinforces the sense of sweet harmony. MAI TRUNG THỨ  Born in 1906 near Haiphong, Mai Trung Thứ attended the French high-school in Hanoi. Like Lê Phổ, Vũ Cao Đàm and Lê Văn Đệ, he was in the first year of students at the École des Beaux-Arts d’Indochine, founded and directed by the painter Victor Tardieu. Invited to take part in the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition, Mai Trung Thứ discovered and fell in love with France, where he settled in the late 30’s and stayed until he died. Although strongly influenced by the teachings of Tardieu and Joseph Inguimberty, he is the one of his comrades who retained the deepest-rooted sense of Vietnamese identity. He soon abandoned oils for gouache and ink on silk: typical Asian techniques that enabled him to develop a style richly reminiscent of traditional Chinese and Vietnamese art. Although an independent artist, he remained politically committed and concerned about the future of his country.
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