INDOCHINA FOR THE 34th VACATION "ASIAN PAINTERS"
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Vietnam and Laos are once again being honored by Aguttes for its 34th "Painters of Asia - Major Works" sale, which takes place on June 2, 2022. The great names of Vietnamese painting such as Lê Phổ, Mai Trung Thứ, Lê Thị Lựu and Alix Aymé are represented.
LE PHO (1908-2000)
A major artist from the first graduating class of the Indochina School of Fine Arts, Lê Phổ demonstrates a perfect syncretism between the traditional ink-on-silk painting of his Vietnamese homeland and the impressionist influences of his adopted land, France.
His work is highlighted by the presentation of an ink and color painting on silk entitled La jeune fille au jardin, done around 1940. This work is characteristic of this period when the artist mastered to perfection the ink and colors on silk. While he uses key elements such as the serpentine movement dear to the mannerists, he also innovates with a new framing, capturing the moment and the beauty of this young Vietnamese girl. The theme of this painting is more broadly integrated into the taste of Vietnamese painters of the twentieth century for the representation of young women, a pretext for the materialization of graceful curves in the manner of an ingresque odalisque. The female figure is one of their favorite themes, with young girls standing or in bust, indoors or in nature, or female nudes.
LE PHO (1907-2001) A major artist from the first graduating class of the Indochina School of Fine Arts, Lê Phổ demonstrates a perfect syncretism between the traditional ink-on-silk painting of his Vietnamese homeland and the impressionist influences of his adopted land, France.
His work is highlighted by the presentation of an ink and color painting on silk entitled La jeune fille au jardin, done around 1940. This work is characteristic of this period when the artist mastered to perfection the ink and colors on silk. While he uses key elements such as the serpentine movement dear to the mannerists, he also innovates with a new framing, capturing the moment and the beauty of this young Vietnamese girl. The theme of this painting is more broadly integrated into the taste of Vietnamese painters of the twentieth century for the representation of young women, a pretext for the materialization of graceful curves in the manner of an ingresque odalisque. The female figure is one of their favorite themes, with young girls standing or in bust, indoors or in nature, or female nudes.
La jeune fille au jardin, circa 1940
Ink and colors on silk, signed upper left
30 x 24 cm
Provenance
Private collection, France
The other favorite theme of these Vietnamese modernists is the still life, especially floral compositions arranging traditional flowers of Far Eastern symbolism. The chrysanthemum, for example, a symbol of happiness and longevity in Vietnam, is illustrated by Lê Phổ in a typically European albarelle, or medicine pot. The two worlds are linked by a technique that also mixes Far Eastern and European tradition, namely oil and gouache, mixed with ink all on a silk. A gouache and ink on silk by Vũ Cao Đàm also offered as a bridge between the two artistic traditions, always illustrating chrysanthemums provided.
LE PHO (1907-2001)
Les chrysanthèmes chevelues (pot à pharmacie)
Oil, ink and gouache on silk, signed lower left, titled on back
66 x 39.5 cm
Provenance
Galerie Romanet, Paris (under the title Dahlias au pot de pharmacie)
Collection Madame Picciotto, Geneva, Switzerland Binoche, Drouot, Paris, June 9, 1997 Collection of Mr. and Mrs. T., Paris (acquired at the previous sale)
VU CAO DAM (1908-2000)
Les chrysanthèmes, circa 1941
Gouache and ink on silk, signed lower right
46 x 34 cm
Provenance
Collection of Mr and Mrs T., Paris (acquired around 1995)
A very luminous oil on canvas of very large format also presents a set of several floral compositions in pots. It is characteristic of the last period of Lê Phổ' painting: gouache has disappeared in favor of oil, the colors are bright and vivid, and silk has given way to canvas.
LE PHO (1907-2001)
Composition aux six bouquets de fleurs, circa 1960-1970
Oil on canvas, signed lower right
90 x 116 cm
Provenance
Private collection. France (acquired from the artist)
Collection of Mrs D. (by descent)
Finally, the sale presents an astonishing painting by this artist, which mixes several classic themes of 20th century Vietnamese painting. It features a young woman, dressed in a green dress, with a graceful appearance. A young child accompanies her, recalling the idea of motherhood, a theme also cherished by Lê Phổ' contemporaries. Both are, as a bonus, separated by a large yellow floral arrangement placed on a table.
LE PHO (1907-2001)
Femme à la robe verte et enfant, sur la table un bouquet jaune
Oil on canvas, signed lower left
65.5 x 81 cm
Provenance
Findlay Gallery, Paris
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. T., Paris (gift of the artist in 1996)
MAI TRUNG THU (1906-1980)
Finally, Mai Trung Thứ is again on display with two exceptionally large silk paintings. Dating from the early years of her stay in France, they present a softer chromatic range than her later paintings with a blue night tending slightly to green in Romance au clair de lune and a pastel green in En plein air. The oval of her faces differs from those of her later figures, such as Jeune femme à la fleur: they are less straight and more in the shape of two interlocking "C "s. The forms and textures are more worked, as evidenced by the draperies.
MAI TRUNG THU (1906-1980)
Romance au clair de lune, 1943
Ink and colors on silk, signed and dated lower right
55 x 46.4 cm
Provenance
Collection of a high ranking civil servant who was stationed in Indochina before 1940 and who became friends with the artist, a friendship that continued after their return to France.
Private collection, France (by descent from the previous owner).
MAI TRUNG THU (1906-1980)
En plein air, circa 1940-45
Ink and colors on silk, signed lower left, titled on back
73 x 53.8 cm - 28 3/4 x 21 1/8 in.
Provenance
Private collection, Paris (acquired at an exhibition in Paris, circa 1946)
Private collection, France (by descent)
MAI TRUNG THU (1906-1980)
Jeune femme à la fleur, 1953
Ink and colors on silk, signed and dated upper leftIn its original frame made by the artist
26.7 x 19.7 cm
Provenance
Private collection, Île-de-France
Mai Trung Thứ also shines again with a small format dated 1972 depicting four young children whispering with the candor he so often used to give them. Children and intergenerational scenes are common in Mai Trung Thứ's work, as evidenced by an upcoming ink and color on silk titled Grand-mère and dated 1976. The scene depicts an old lady presumably chatting about her family jewel that she wears around her neck, as the two young women around her look on in wonder.
MAI TRUNG THU (1906-1980)
Jeunes enfants chuchotant, 1972
Ink and colors on silk, signed and dated upper left.
In its original frame made by the artist
6.3 x 20.5 cm
Provenance
Collection of Mr and Mrs T., Paris (acquired around 1995)
MAI TRUNG THU (1906-1980)
Grand-mère, 1976
Ink and colors on silk, signed and dated upper right, titled on the back.
In the original frame made by the artist
22 x 47 cm
Provenance
Private collection, Paris
LE THI LUU (1907-2001)
Lê Thị Lựu is another woman artist of major significance to Vietnam. As one of the few women who studied at the Indochina School of Fine Arts, she is also the first to have begun and maintained a career as a professional painter. The softness of her motifs and colors shines through in La cueillette du thé, supported by the gentle gestures of her women, who are traditionally responsible for picking the tea leaves.
LE THI LUU (1911-1988)
La cueillette du thé
Gouache and ink on silk, signed lower right
45.8 x 38.4 cm
Provenance
Private collection, France (acquired in 1971) Private collection, France (inherited in 1990)
ALIX AYME (1894-1989)
The auction offers potential bidders a rare testimony of the International Colonial Exhibition in Paris (1931) composed of four oil paintings by Alix Aymé. A French artist with a passion for Indochina, Alix Aymé was commissioned in 1929 by the French government to travel to Laos. The objective is to travel and document the life of the Laotians of all ethnicities. This documentation and the sketches she made on the spot were to enable her to create the decoration of the Laos pavilion during the Colonial Exhibition. At the end of the event, the decor composed of 47 paintings is dispersed. Four of these canvases have reappeared today. They allow us to imagine the Laotian life in its diversity. As if taken from life, Les jeunes filles Moï and Le couple Kha are a window on the remote lands of Laos.
ALIX AYME (1894-1989)
Les jeunes filles Moï, 1930
Oil on canvas
55 x 46.5 cm
Provenance
Collection of the artist's family, acquired following the Colonial Exhibition in Paris and passed down through the family
ALIX AYME (1894-1989)
Flamboyants aux bords du Mékong à Vientiane, 1930
Oil on canvas
59.8 x 70 cm
Provenance
Collection of the artist's family, acquired following the Colonial Exhibition in Paris and passed down through the family
ALIX AYME (1894-1989)
Laotienne devant sa paillote, 1930
Oil on canvas
78 x 54 cm
Provenance
Collection of the artist's family, acquired following the Colonial Exhibition in Paris and passed down through the family
ALIX AYME (1894-1989)
Couple Kha, 1930
Oil on canvas
54.4 x 66 cm
Provenance
Collection of the artist's family, acquired following the Colonial Exhibition in Paris and passed down through the family
Alix Aymé is also known to express herself through lacquer. It was during a trip to Japan that she learned this art. She perfected this technique to such an extent that she taught it on her return to Vietnam when she was appointed professor at the Indochina School of Fine Arts (ENSBAI). This Maternité on a golden background is a demonstration of her mastery and the materialization of a cultural point between a Far Eastern technique and a more European subject.
ALIX AYME (1894-1989)
Maternité sur fond d'or
Lacquer and gold highlights, signed lower right
39.7 x 40 cm
Provenance
Family of the artist
Then by descent, France
Given by the artist to his brother-in-law Marcel Aymé
Private collection, France (transmitted from the previous one)
ASIAN PAINTERS · MAJOR WORKS [34] INDOCHINA IN THE 20th CENTURY
Auction
Thursday, June 2, 2022, at 3pm
Exhibition by appointment from May 16 to 31 from 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm, except weekends
Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier
Asian painters expert
+33 1 41 92 06 49 • reynier@aguttes.com
Aguttes, first auction house in Europe on the market of 20th century Asian painters
The Asian Painters department lead by expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier has been working for the past ten years to bring back to light the little-known Asian artists of the 20th century. Aguttes has thus presented several dozen paintings by Lê Phổ, Mai Trung Thứ or Vu Cao Dam, and has regularly obtained new world records. These efforts have enabled the auction house to take the leading position in Europe in the market for Asian painters, to the satisfaction of buyers from around the world.
Among the signatures that are sought after by Asian collectors, and that Aguttes defends with passion, let us mention among others Lê Phổ, Nam Son, Alix Aymé, Le Thy, Vu Cao Dàm, Mai Trung Thứ, Inguimberty, Nguyen Phan Chánh, Nguyen Tien Chung, Tran Phuc Duyen, Le Thi Luu... Raden Saleh... And also Sanyu, Lin Fengmian, Pan Yuliang...but also all the artists coming from the schools of Fine Arts of these regions of Asia.
Sales are organized on a quarterly basis at carefully chosen dates, in connection with the market news on the most important international markets.