Recently, the program In Search of Eternity: The Philippe Damas Collection organized by Christie's Hong Kong auction house took place. About 50 paintings with Asian themes, especially in the Southeast Asian region, were auctioned.
In Search of Eternity: The Philippe Damas Collection is an auction of the collection of Philippe Damas, a businessman in the financial industry who spent many years working in Asia, collecting many outstanding works of art there, including many big names in Vietnam.
Accordingly, the painting Le Trois Femmes ( Three Women ) by famous painter Nguyen Gia Tri was successfully auctioned at 2.07 million USD, far exceeding expectations and leading the auction.
The price of 2.07 million USD has put the painting Three Women by famous painter Nguyen Gia Tri in 4th place among the 10 most expensive Vietnamese paintings.
The painting by artist Nguyen Gia Tri is an oil painting, considered to have a high level of completion, is well preserved and has a clear origin.
At the event, another painting by famous artist Nguyen Gia Tri, Boat in Ha Long Bay , also reached a price of 504,000 HKD (about 1.6 billion VND).
At the same auction, a series of works by famous painters Mai Trung Thu, Vu Cao Dam, Le Pho, Nguyen Phan Chanh, Nguyen Sang, To Ngoc Van, Bui Xuan Phai, and Nguyen Tien Chung were hammered from tens of thousands to about 4 million HKD (13 billion VND).
So, why are paintings by Nguyen Gia Tri and other famous artists so expensive?
Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, painter Luong Xuan Doan - Chairman of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association - said that Nguyen Gia Tri and his contemporaries were painters of the "golden" generation of the Indochina Fine Arts School, who laid the foundation for contemporary Vietnamese fine arts.
He and some other contemporary painters are also historical witnesses to the development of modern art, so their paintings are very expensive.
"Nguyen Gia Tri's paintings are more unique lacquer works than those of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese artists. Moreover, those works are imbued with Vietnamese spirit, not copying the French painting style but creating their own expressive path.
The image of Vietnamese women in Nguyen Gia Tri's paintings is very beautiful, associated with familiar images such as ao dai, headscarves, has its own characteristics... so many collectors want to own that painting," Mr. Doan explained.
Painter Pham Sinh - former lecturer of the Sculpture Department, Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts - said that not many art collectors in Vietnam and abroad know which genre of painting is the most valuable, so they choose famous artists and works of high value as "a seal" for peace of mind.
According to Mr. Sinh, the paintings of famous artists have been bought and sold by many domestic and foreign collectors because they were created a long time ago, so the price increase is understandable.
Furthermore, collectors often buy by the names of famous painters in Vietnam such as: Mai Trung Thu, Le Pho, Nguyen Gia Tri, Bui Xuan Phai... because they have very high liquidity.
"The value of a painting is not quantified like gold or diamonds, but it is a product that can be raised or lowered according to emotions. If the painting has a special story from the artist, the circumstances of its creation, the history of its appearance... or if the economic life of a country pushes up the value of the work, the painting will "jump" to a very high price, even a sky-high price that few people expect", artist Pham Sinh informed.
Sharing the same opinion with painter Luong Xuan Doan, Master Bui Cam Vi - granddaughter of famous painter Bui Xuan Phai - said that paintings by painters: Mai Trung Thu, Le Pho, Nguyen Gia Tri, Nguyen Phan Chanh, Bui Xuan Phai... are highly valued because they represent the pioneering generation of the modern school.
Accordingly, Nguyen Phan Chanh with silk paintings, Nguyen Gia Tri with lacquer... brought Vietnamese art to the world level with a combination of classical and Western styles, carrying many historical and aesthetic values.
"Paintings by deceased artists are often highly valued because they are unique. Their works have been recognized in many international museums and galleries, such as Bui Xuan Phai's painting Coal Mine at the National Museum of Singapore, paintings by Mai Trung Thu and Le Pho at the Paris Colonial Exhibition (1931)... so many people want to own paintings by famous artists.
Moreover, the world art market has a need to know about Vietnamese paintings, so collectors grasp this trend. They invest in paintings with original works, created by famous artists...", Ms. Cam Vi shared.
Nguyen Gia Tri (1908-1993) is one of the outstanding painters in the history of Vietnamese fine arts. He was born and raised in Hanoi.
The famous painter Nguyen Gia Tri graduated from the Indochina College of Fine Arts in 1936. He is one of the "four greats" of Vietnamese painting: "first Tri, second Van, third Lan, fourth Can", including: Nguyen Gia Tri, Nguyen Tuong Lan, To Ngoc Van, Tran Van Can.
He held his first exhibitions in 1939-1940.
In 1989, Nguyen Gia Tri was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as one of the contemporary painters who contributed to the development of modern Vietnamese visual arts.
He was posthumously awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts in 2012.
Source: https://baohatinh.vn/buc-hoa-53-ty-dong-cua-nguyen-gia-tri-chuyen-gia-noi-ly-do-tranh-dat-gia-post285208.html
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