Auctions
Asian Weeks
Sale [44] Asian Painters : China, Vietnam Asian Arts
Public auction sales
Tuesday 10, Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 September 2024 at Neuilly-sur-Seine

French
Tiếng Việt
通稿

As a historic leader in the market for artists from Asia, Aguttes is organizing a new edition of the "Asian Weeks" from September 2 to 19 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. On September 10, 2024, its 44th sale dedicated to modern art will highlight artists who have worked in Indochina, Indonesia, and China. Then, on September 18 and 19, 2024, the auctions dedicated to Asian Arts will feature, among other things, a remarkable collection of jewelry from the Himalayan era.

Discover the exhibition of the Peintres d'Asie [44] sale

INDONESIAN PAINTERS
September 10's sale features a section dedicated to painters who lived and worked in Bali, such as Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès (1880-1958) and Antonio Blanco (1911-1999).

Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès (1880-1958)


Photo d’archive : Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès peignant sa femme et modèle Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik © Erven C.J. Taillie

Born in Brussels in 1880, Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès first studied architecture and civil engineering at the local University before turning to painting. He learned from his father, the painter and engraver Adrien Le Mayeur (1843-1916), and from Ernest Blanc-Garin (1843-1916). He worked as a war painter and photographer during the First World War, and then travelled to the south of France, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Madagascar, India, Cambodia, Tahiti, French Polynesia and elsewhere.

In 1932, he arrived in Indonesia, on the island of Bali, first in Singaraja, then in Denpasar, in the south of the island. In 1933, he held an exhibition at the Singapore YMCA, which was so successful that all his works were sold.

It was during his early Balinese years that he met the model who would become his wife in 1935, Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik (1917-1985). After their marriage, they settled in Sanur, where they had a typical Balinese house built. It was here that he set up his studio. He was placed under house arrest from 1942 to 1945 during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies during the Second World War.

In 1956, his work came to the attention of Bahder Djohan, then Indonesian Minister of Education and Culture. He suggested to Adrien Le Mayeur and Ni Wayan Pollok Tjoeglik that their house should be turned into a museum. The idea appealed to the couple, who made the necessary arrangements. It is still possible to visit it today.


Archive photo: Interior of the house of Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès © Erven C.J. Taillie

In 1958, Adrien Le Mayeur died of illness in Brussels, where he had returned with his wife for treatment.


Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès (1880-1958)
Deux femmes dans un intérieur
Oil on canvas, signed lower left

The work we will be presenting is typical of the artist's Balinese period, from his arrival on the island in 1932 to the year of his death in 1958. This large canvas (75.5 x 90 cm) depicts two women in an interior, probably the painter's home. Presented in its hand-crafted frame, typical of this region, the canvas, which is original and comes from a private collection, is unprecedented on the market.

Antonio Blanco (1911-1999)


Antonio Blanco (1911-1999)
Portrait présumé de la fille du peintre
Oil on canvas, signed top center

Antonio Blanco or the "Fabulous Blanco" was born on September 15, 1912 in Manila (Philippines) and died in 1999 in Ubud (Bali). Of Catalan origin, his parents settled in Manila in 1898. He studied at the American Central School in Manila, where he discovered the arts. After graduating, he moved to New York, where he was accepted into the National Academy of Art under Sidney Dickinson (1890-1908). It was during these early years that he devoted himself to depicting the body in motion, particularly the female form. He returned to Bali in 1952, after several years of travel, and was offered a plot of land by the King of Ubud, his reputation having preceded him. At the end of his life, Antonio Blanco decided to build a museum to exhibit his work, which has now become the Blanco Renaissance Museum. In the 1960s, he also founded the Blanco Art Foundation.

Our painting shows a bust of a young girl, probably the painter's daughter, looking to the left. Her face and body stand out against a background sketched out with lively brushstrokes. This is a typical mode of representation for Blanco, who seems primarily interested in the human figure and its movement, giving only secondary importance to the background of his canvases.


ANTONIO BLANCO (1911-1999)
In this photograph, taken by the buyer of our painting Portrait présumé de la fille du peintre at the exhibition held in the artist's presence in Jatiluhur, Java,
March 1962, we can see a model looking at the painting that has been entrusted to us for sale.

HONORING THE INDOCHINA SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS
As we prepare to celebrate the centenary of the Indochina School of Fine Arts, this 44th opus dedicated to Asian painters features some of its illustrious students, such as Vũ Cao Đàm, Class II (1926-1931) and valedictorian, and Lê Phổ, Class I (1925-1930).

Lê Phổ (1907-2001)
Born on August 2, 1907 in Ha Tay province, into a family of high-ranking mandarins whose father was the viceroy of Tonkin, Lê Phổ (1907-2001) studied for two years at the École d'arts appliqués à l'industrie directed by sculptor Gustave Hierholtz, before joining the Indochina School of Fine Arts when it was founded in Hanoi in 1925. In 1930, having just graduated, he took charge of the decorative arts and furniture design courses. In 1931, Victor Tardieu, aware of the young Vietnamese's talent, chose to make him his assistant for the Colonial Exhibition in Paris. This trip gave the young artist the opportunity to discover France and Europe. His travels through countries as varied as Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as his visits to museums - where he admired the primitives - enabled him to deepen his knowledge of Western art and come face-to-face with it.


Lê Phổ (1907-2001)
Le bol bleu, circa 1942
Ink and colours on silk, signed upper left. In its original frame

Discover the story of this artwork with our expert Charlotte Aguttes Reynier

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 Ecole 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 gained a certain notoriety.


Lê Phổ (1907-2001)
Bouquet de pivoines
Watercolour, gouache and pencil marks on paper, signed lower left

The peony motif can be found in several works by Lê Phổ, a Vietnamese artist who graduated in 1930 from the Indochina School of Fine Arts, founded in Hanoi in 1925. In Asia, these flowers are considered noble, a symbol of beauty and prosperity.

Here, in this magnificent watercolor on paper, a rare medium in this artist's work, he paints these delicate flowers, playing with the transparency afforded by watercolor and gouache. The pencil strokes are visible through the light touches of white, which themselves reveal the composition's background. These four peonies stand out against an almost plain background, and bear witness to Lê Phổ's mastery of light, at the height of his artistic powers just a few years after moving to Paris in the late 1930s. The bouquet is presented in a blue vase that is barely visible, but adds a touch of bold color to the composition, as does the red peony discreetly sketched on the right.


Lê Phổ (1907-2001)
Les tulipes et branches de prunier
Oil, ink and color on silk, signed lower left

Le thé dans le jardin is a fine example of Lê Phổ's mastery of the Cézanne lesson in his treatment of perspective. Two women and two children are seated around a table. The tabletop is more inclined than it should be, leaving plenty of room for the bouquets of flowers that adorn it, without obscuring the figures. A cup, whose balance is not compromised, is placed to one side. On his arrival in Paris, Lê Phổ discovered the work of the Impressionists, which influenced his palette and brushwork, with broad strokes of yellows, oranges, reds, pinks... Lê Phổ depicts this scene in a dense, colorful garden, occupying the entire space. The use of oil enables the artist to give greater amplitude to his movement and to work on large formats such as ours. This composition is typical of the work Lê Phổ produced after signing his contract with gallery owner Wally Findlay in 1963.

Lê Phổ (1907-2001)
Le thé dans le jardin
Oil on silk, signed lower right

In 1937, when Victor Tardieu was in charge of the Indochina section of the Universal Exhibition on Ile aux Cygnes, Lê Phổ decided to move to France. His encounter with Matisse, and especially Bonnard in the early 1940s, gradually prompted him to return to oil painting, as evidenced by these Tulipes à la branche de prunier. Lê Phổ breathes life into his classic floral compositions. A master of his subject, Lê Phổ uses the same thread for each of his works: although the variety of flowers varies, a dominant chromatic range, around which other hues harmonize, always halo his creations.

Mai Trung Thứ (1906-1980)

Mai Trung Thứ (1906-1980)

Enfants endormis, 1943
Ink and colours on silk, signed and dated top right, titled on back

Enfants endormis is a silk typical of Mai Trung Thứ's work in the early 1940s, when she held exhibitions in Algeria and also in Casablanca. Acquired from the Galerie L'Art Vivant and subsequently passed down through the family, this silk depicts two schoolchildren, represented in a pyramidal composition. Here, the young boys have fallen asleep while studying. At the feet of the one dressed in white is a notebook on which is written his name: Chen Wen Qin. The mastery and workmanship of the line allow the drapery of the clothes to be rendered with great precision. Mai Trung Thứ immortalises her school memories here with tenderness and humour.

Mai Trung Thứ (1906-1980)

Lecture, 1975
Ink and colours on silk, signed and dated top left, titled on back

Vũ Cao Đàm (1908-2000)
Born in Hanoi in 1908 to a French-speaking, Francophile father, Vũ Cao Đàm grew up in a scholarly environment. He entered the Indochina School of Fine Arts, founded in 1925 by French painter Victor Tardieu, graduating as a valedictorian. At the Paris International Exhibition in 1931, he discovered the Parisian art world. Greatly influenced by the charms and culture of the City of Light, he travelled throughout France, where he chose to settle. Initially showing a keen interest in sculpture, which he practiced assiduously, it was finally with silk painting that Vũ Cao Đàm expressed his immense talent. In both fields, the artist concentrates above all on the human figure, which he magnifies in portraits or charming genre scenes. Combining Asian and European pictorial traditions with finesse, Vũ Cao Đàm's delicate faces and graceful silhouettes offer that refined elegance, which give his line an instantly recognizable character. His choice of mediums accompanies the changes in his life: sculpture and silk are more linked to his years in Indochina and pre-war Paris, while oils bear more witness to those spent in the South of France.

Vũ Cao Đàm's maternities are characterized by their gentleness and delicacy, highlighting maternal tenderness. In this work, in addition to the mother and child, a third figure is represented: that of the sister. The mother nurses in an interior sketched in the background, while the sister looks on and holds the infant's head. The warm tones of the mother and daughter's interior and clothing surround and warm the child dressed in white and blue. Likewise, their hands protect and surround him.


Vũ Cao Đàm (1908-2000)
Maternité rouge
Oil and mixed media on silk, signed lower left

The painter thus renews the universal subject of motherhood that is so dear to him by adding the figure of the sister and depicting the moment of breast-feeding. Indeed, this is a moment very rarely depicted in Asia. Vũ Cao Đàm probably looked to the compositions of certain modern Western painters such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) or Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), who also seized this intimate moment.


Vũ Cao Đàm (1908-2000)
Jeune fille près d’un arbre en fleurs
Ink and color on silk

Here, Vũ Cao Đàm paints a young girl next to a cherry blossom branch, which she holds delicately in her hands. The curve of the cherry branch divides the composition in two, highlighting the girl's face against a colorful background. Heralding spring, cherry blossoms symbolize renewal and hope. From a more melancholy point of view, they also evoke the passage of time and fleeting youth. Looking pensive, the young girl seems to be aware of the passage of time.

The choice of depicting a lone, anonymous female figure marks a major innovation in Vietnamese artistic production, and is characteristic of the young artists at the Indochina School of Fine Arts. At the time, such representations were unthinkable in traditional Vietnamese society. By taking up this subject, the artists assert their modernity and exalt beauty.

Vũ Cao Đàm (1908-2000)

La famille, 1963
Huile sur toile, signée et datée en bas à gauche

The strength of family ties is a subject close to the artist's heart, and in this masterly compo - sition typical of the Findlay period, he depicts a couple with their young child. The brushwork is fragmented and the background almost abs - tract, a legacy of recent artistic reflections and encounters for the painter. La famille corres - ponds to the period when Vũ Cao Đàm defini - tively adopted oil; he was then working in the south of France.

UPCOMING ASIAN PAINTERS SALES: CHINA, VIETNAM
September 10 and November 5, 2024, 2:30 p.m.

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

NEXT "ASIAN ARTS" SALE
September 18 and 19, December 3, 2024, 2:30 p.m.

For more information or to include a lot in our upcoming sales, please contact
Clémentine Guyot - Head of Asian Arts
+33 1 47 45 00 90 - guyot@aguttes.com