Upcoming auction
Sale [50] Asian Painters : China & Vietnamese
Thursday, February 26, 2025

French
Tiếng Việt

The year 2026 opens with the 50 th Aguttes auction, dedicated to modern Asian art. Our aim is to celebrate the importance of the artistic discoveries made over the last twelve years by our expert, Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, which have enabled the international market for modern Vietnamese art to flourish. In certain informed circles, it is pleasing to hear the following signatures resonating today: Nguyễn Gia Trí, Tô Ngọc Vân, Nguyễn Tường Lân, Trần Văn Cẩn, Hoàng Tích Chù, Phạm Quang Hậu, Lê Phổ, Lê Thi Luu, Lê Văn Dệ, Vũ Cao Đàm, Victor Tardieu, Nguyễn Phan Chánh, Nam Sơn, Mai Trung Thu, Lương Xuân Nhị…

The catalogue for this 50th sale, scheduled for February 26, will present our latest discoveries, unpublished works by the great masters of modern Vietnamese painting, and in particular those trained between 1925 and 1945 at the golden age of the Indochina School of Fine Arts. We are constantly seeking, for our sales, works that reflect the talent of these painters who developed their art between East and West at the beginning of the 20th century. Since 2014, each discovery has enabled Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier to reveal a part of history that has been neglected for too long. Keen to document the careers of these artists in the light of the works that appear, she seizes every opportunity to reveal and reinforce scientific knowledge through publications, meetings and exhibitions.

Lê Phổ (1907-2001)

With his excellent multi-disciplinary training, which he received in Hanoi at the Indochina School of Fine Arts, the artist Lê Phổ relied on the decorative arts teachings of Joseph Inguimberty to assist Victor Tardieu, artistic director at the 1931 Colonial Exhibition. Under Tardieu's direction, he decorated the 1936 Salon de la Sadeai and the 1937 Exposition Universelle in Paris.

After graduating in 1930, he made a name for himself as a painter and draughtsman, gradually turning to oil as his preferred medium.

Only a very select few - such as Governor General Tholance's family and Prince Bửu Lộc - had access to Lê Phổ' creations as an interior decorator, and benefited from his discerning taste in projects for screens, seats and other furniture. The sale [50] will be an opportunity to celebrate this little-known facet of this great artist. It will also see the transmission of astonishing decorative elements designed by the artist for one of his relatives in Paris. This unique and unprecedented commission will soon be revealed to the public. Then, on February 26, the art lover daring enough to be the lucky winner will join the exclusive club of collectors who live in a Lê Phổ décor.


Related work: Preparatory drawing by Lê Phổ for the interior design of the Prince Bửu Lộc apartment © Archives Alain Le Kim

Another example of this multi-disciplinarity, Baigneuses illustrates Lê Phổ' constant quest for harmony between Vietnamese heritage and Western influence. Our composition, dated 1947, is drawn in a vein reminiscent of the figures captured by Paul Gauguin in Tahiti.


Lê Phổ
Baigneuses

It is interesting to note that Et l'or de leurs corps, painted by Gauguin in 1901, entered the collections of the Louvre Museum in Paris in 1944, before being exhibited there in 1945, and then shown again at the Tuileries in 1947. Knowing the artistic curiosity and taste for museums of Lê Phổ, then a Parisian painter, it would be surprising if the subject of our drawing, which he delivered in 1947, were merely a coincidence...


Related work: Paul Gauguin, Et l'or de leurs corps, 1901. RMN-Grand Palais (Orsay Museum) / Hervé Lewandowski

From the late 1950s onwards, the artist made floral compositions one of his favorite subjects, while favoring a more Western medium: oil on canvas. The representation of this bouquet reveals the painter's mastery and creativity in the art of composition.

Lê Phổ
Fleurs

Mai Trung Thứ (1906-1980)
A classmate of Lê Phổ, Mai Thứ moved to Paris in 1937 and devoted himself to depicting an idealized Vietnam that celebrates feminine beauty in all its simplicity. The exhibitions he gave in the early 1940s enabled him to deliver his most sensitive works. Jeune fille, dated 1941, depicts a refined young woman. Adorned with discreet jewelry and an elegant áo dài, she appears pensive, holding an orchid flower in her hand.


Mai Thứ
Jeune fille


Related work: Lê Phổ (1907-2001)
Jeune fille aux orchidées, circa 1942
Sold €354,240 ont the [48] sale, Tribute to Vietnamese Modern Art 1925-2025, Tuesday, September 9, 2025.

Vũ Cao Đàm (1908-2000)


Vũ Cao Đàm

This early composition illustrates a transitional period in the career of artist Vũ Cao Đàm, who graduated in 1931 from the Indochina School of Fine Arts with a major in sculpture. From 1940 onwards, the economic constraints of the Second World War made it very difficult to cast bronze in France, prompting him to return to painting on silk, a demanding medium that allowed no repentance and of which he had acquired perfect mastery during his training in Hanoi. The work depicts poppy flowers, traditionally associated with sleep, peace and rebirth. In Vietnam, and particularly in Cochinchina in the 19 th century, poppies were also associated with the opium trade, giving the flowers both historical and symbolic significance.

This sale will also be an opportunity to highlight the work of Chinese artists active in Paris in the early 20 th century, such as Sanyu.

Sale [50] Painters of Asia: China & Vietnam
Thursday, February 26, 2026 at 2:30 pm

Guided tours by the expert, by appointment only, on Wednesday February 18, Friday February 20 and Monday February 23 at 11am

Public exhibitions : from Wednesday February 11 to Wednesday February 25, from 2 to 5:30 p.m. (except weekends)

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