The revival of modern art in Indochina

Event in Hanoï
The revival of modern art in Indochina
A day of art history studies

Presentation of a Prize for artistic creativity
A symposium initiated and moderated by Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier
An event organized by Salmon Marketing Agency

Tiếng Việt
French

The Association des Artistes d'Asie à Paris, chaired by expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, hosted a one-day symposium in Hanoi on January 7, 2025, dedicated to revealing and enriching knowledge of the history of art in Vietnam during the period 1925-1945. The symposium concluded with the announcement of a project to create a prize to promote the development of artistic creativity in Vietnam. Nearly 300 people registered to benefit from the fruitful exchanges between all the speakers. In particular, this event brought together, around Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, descendants of the first two directors of the Indochina School of Fine Arts, Victor Tardieu and Évariste Jonchère, professors Jacques Lebas and Nam Sơn, and students Lê Phổ, Trịnh Hữu Ngọc, Mai Trung Thứ and Vũ Cao Đàm.

A day of art history studies
On January 7, 2025, in Hanoi, the Association des Artistes d'Asie à Paris, chaired by expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, hosted a day dedicated to enriching knowledge of the history of Vietnamese art in the period 1925-1945, with a particular focus on the Indochina School of Fine Arts.

« Passionate about this artistic period, my pleasure today is to contribute to enlightening knowledge of Vietnamese art history in the most factual way possible.
To this end, I have brought together in Hanoi descendants of artists, teachers and key players from the years 1925-1945, so that they can evoke their family memories publicly and freely, and share details and anecdotes about the lives of their forebears and their artistic training, thanks to their vivid memories... A single watchword today: talk about art and art history ! »
— Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, Hanoï, January 7, 2025

Prize creation project
Against the backdrop of the great fresco that adorns this historic site - and which was created after Victor Tardieu's fresco from the late 1920s - Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier announced her plan to create a prize that she would like to call the “ Tô Ngọc Vân Prize”. This prize would enable finalists, students of Vietnamese art schools, to benefit from a first step on the international art market.
For this occasion, she called on all descendants of artists or actors, present in the room or connected remotely, to come forward by gathering around her in the large amphitheater of Hanoi's University of Natural and Social Sciences.

Hanoi, 7/1/2025 - Announcement of the “Tô Ngọc Vân Prize” project - In Hanoi, on January 7, 2025, surrounded by twelve heirs representing the School's first two directors, Victor Tardieu (1925-1937) and Evariste Jonchère (1938-1945), professors Jacques Lebas and Nam Sơn, and students Lê Phổ, Trịnh Hữu Ngọc, Mai Trung Thứ and Vũ Cao Đàm, expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier announced her plans to create a Prize she wishes to name “ Tô Ngọc Vân Prize”.
Amphitheater, Hanoi University of Natural and Social Sciences, January 7, 2025.

In the presence of twelve rightful claimants
Thus surrounded her, for this most moving moment of the day, twelve heirs representing the School's first two directors, Victor Tardieu (1925-1937) and Evariste Jonchère (1938-1945), teachers Jacques Lebas and Nam Sơn, and students Lê Phổ, Trịnh Hữu Ngọc, Mai Trung Thứ and Vũ Cao Đàm.

A tribute to collector Nguyễn Cang
This symposium, held on January 7, 2024 in Hanoi, was dedicated to the recently deceased collector Nguyễn Cang, a great scholar who devoted his life to art, the transmission of knowledge and the history of Vietnam. Expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier moderated the day's proceedings, which included 3 round tables, documentary previews and the presentation of the Prize.

Hanoi, 7/1/2025 - Opening speech with Hàn Ngọc Vũ , A&V Art Collection, Hanoi University of Natural and Social Sciences, January 7, 2025.

Nearly 300 registered participants
Nearly 300 people, registered with event organizer Salmon Marketing Agency, enjoyed the fruitful exchanges between the 20 participants.

Hanoi, 7/1/2025 - Theme: Évariste Jonchère, a mandate also dedicated to the development of the decorative arts.
A discussion moderated by Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier. Amphitheatre, Hanoi University of Natural and Social Sciences, January 7, 2025.

Paris, 11/10/2024 – Photo illustrating the conference previewed in Hanoi on January 7, 2025, and filmed at the symposium organized by expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier on October 11, 2024. Theme: Sculpture in the fine arts in the 1930s: with Hubert Lacroix, director of the Susse foundries from 2003 to 2023, in charge of the Susse archives, expert to the Paris Court of Appeal and Yannick Vu-Jakober, daughter of Vũ Cao Đàm

An audience made up of collectors, contemporary artists, art lovers and art world professionals
This shared passion, the history of modern Vietnamese art, brought together an audience made up of collectors such as Calvin Lâm and his wife Đỗ Thị Hải Yến, or also Hàn Ngọc Vũ and his wife Thạch Lê Anh, founders of A&V Art Collection.

Hanoi, 7/1/2025 – A discussion between Evariste Jonchère's descendants, experts and collectors. Hall of the Hanoi University of Natural and Social Sciences, January 7, 2025.

Also present were some renowned contemporary artists such as Hà Mạnh Thắng or Nguyễn Trần Ưu Đàm, as well as Madame Trần Kim Quế, Vice-President of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, and professionals and gallery owners.

Hanoi, 7/1/2025 - Hall of the Hanoi University of Natural and Social Sciences, 7 January 2025. ©A&V Art Collection

Hanoi, 7/1/2025 – Theme: The importance of multicultural arts education. From left to right: collector Hàn Ngọc Vũ, Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, on screen, Lê Phổ' son Alain Le-Kim,
artists Hà Mạnh Thắng and Nguyễn Trần Ưu Đàm. Amphitheater of the Hanoi University of Natural and Social Sciences, January 7, 2025.

Paris, 11/10/2024 – Photo illustrating the conference previewed in Hanoi on January 7, 2025, and filmed at the symposium organized by expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier on October 11, 2024. Theme: Promoting artistic creation through fairs, exhibitions and galleries: with Philippe Augier, founder of Museum Pasafika in Bali; Alain Le-Kim, son of Lê Phổ; Daniel Gervis, art dealer and publisher, founder of three fairs: Basel Art Fair, Fiac, Salon de Mars, in Paris and Geneva.

Hanoi, 7/1/2025 – A discussion between the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts and the expert : Madame Nguyễn Thị Thu Hương in charge of external relations, Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier and Madame Trần Kim Quế, vice-president of the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts. Hall of the Hanoi University of Natural and Social Sciences, January 7, 2025.

For their part, many students and professors from the Vietnam Fine Arts University represented Mrs. Đặng Thị Phong Lan, their deputy director, unfortunately prevented by a family bereavement but whose portrait adorned the walls of the amphitheater, alongside portraits of descendants Lê Phổ, Mai Trung Thứ and Vũ Cao Đàm.

Photo adorning the amphitheater wall on January 7, 2025, taken on October 11, 2024 : Michel Vu, Yannick Vu-Jakober (children of Vũ Cao Đàm); Mai Lan Phương (daughter of Mai Trung Thứ); Alain Le-Kim (son Lê Phổ);
Aymeric Le Brun (grandson of Mai Trung Thứ) and expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier gathered at Aguttes in Paris on October 11, 2024 for a symposium dedicated to enriching knowledge around the 1925-1945 period.

Hanoi, 11/01/2024 – Photo adorning the wall of the amphitheater on January 7, 2025, taken on January 11, 2024 in the museum of the University of Fine Arts of Vietnam in Hanoi: To mark the launch of her book in Vietnam, expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier had offered the work she had just published to Madame Đặng Thị Phong Lan, Deputy Director of the University of Fine Arts of Vietnam.

Interventions that reveal previously unpublished information
The exchanges followed one another with a dynamic rhythm. The participation of various descendants of personalities who played a remarkable role in the revival of modern Vietnamese art at the beginning of the 20th century, and of some of today's key players, revealed and enriched our knowledge of this most interesting period in the history of art in Vietnam, in a studious and friendly atmosphere.

Moments of emotion...
Victor Tardieu's great-grandson addressed the audience with a few moving words :

« _(…) I'm inclined to believe that this is the most important legacy, the spirit that Victor Tardieu, his collaborators, his students and their heirs shared, and which has made it possible for so many artists to flourish. This spirit of respect between men and authenticity in artistic research is contagious, as it is transmitted from one generation to the next. It's also beneficial, because through art, it creates a bond between people, whatever the outcome of history.

This is precisely what the Russian poet Evgenij Evtushenko says, in the following lines, which seem to be addressed to us :

«_ The great history of the Earth
is woven from small terrestrial stories

[…]
Great life is woven from countless lives
History is a web of life stories

As history slips away behind us, and lives follow one another - we might add - art alone remains and triumphs over time and space. »

— Nicola Baudo, great-grandson of Victor Tardieu, Hanoi, January 7, 2025.

An exhibition of archival photographs
The hall of Hanoi's University of Natural and Social Sciences, meanwhile, hosted an exhibition of archival photographs illustrating some of the key players of this period, as well as reproductions of remarkable works of art testifying to the talent of these painters.

Preview of Jacques Lebas' 1932 set in Hanoi
The meeting in Hanoi on Tuesday January 7, 2025 was also an opportunity for expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier to preview the works that will be offered for sale at Aguttes on February 18, 2025. This ensemble, made public for the first time in Hanoi, was described with emotion by the daughter of Jacques Lebas, who had traveled from France for the occasion. A confidant and spiritual son of her father, Victor Tardieu, Jacques Lebas was a professor of art history at the Indochina School of Fine Arts around 1930, and then censor at the Lycée Albert Sarraut in the 1930s. He had decorated the interior of his residence with paintings and works of art created by his students at the School of Fine Arts, reproductions of which adorned the picture rails on Tuesday, prior to the presentation of the works for sale on February 18, 2025.

Victor Tardieu, Jacques Lebas and his wife, on the porch of their residence at the Lycée Albert Sarraut, Hanoi, February 1936 ©Archives Lebas

Indochina School of Fine Arts, attributed to Nguyễn Phan Chánh (1892-1984)
Paysage avec figures, circa 1929-1933
Oil on canvas
84 x 84 cm
Estimate: 80,000 / 120,000 euros
Collection Jacques Lebas, Aguttes sale February 18, 2025 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

Sale [46] in preparation: 18 February 2025

WITH THE SUPPORT OF: Mrs Sophie Maysonnave, Counsellor for Cooperation and Cultural Action at the French Embassy in Vietnam and Director of the French Institute of Vietnam

The “Asian Painters” department headed by Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier in figures
• 10 years of existence
• Over 70 artists presented
• More than 1,000 paintings, drawings, lacquerware and sculptures appraised
• More than 135 works by Mai Trung Thứ appraised and presented
• More than 155 paintings by Lê Phổ appraised and sold at auction
• More than 110 works by Vũ Cao Đàm catalogued and offered for sale

For more information or to include a lot in our next sales, please contact
Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier
+33 (1) 41 92 06 49 - reynier@aguttes.com

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