What is special about the oil painting "Folk Singer"?

The oil painting "Folk Singer" by artist Nguyen Phan Chanh has just been hammered for 1,020,000 EUR (more than 27 billion VND), entering the Top 20 most expensive Vietnamese paintings of all time.

Oil painting "Les Chanteuses de Campagne" (The Folk Singers). (Source: Sotheby's)

At the Sotheby's Paris auction, the oil painting Les Chanteuses de Campagne (Folk Singers) by artist Nguyen Phan Chanh was hammered for 1,020,000 EUR (over 27 billion VND). Thus, "Folk Singers" entered the Top 20 most expensive Vietnamese paintings of all time, ranked 15th, alongside other works by Le Pho, Mai Trung Thu, Le Quoc Loc, Pham Hau, To Ngoc Van and Vu Cao Dam.

This is the second work by Nguyen Phan Chanh to reach the million USD mark, after the silk painting Les Couturières (The Seamstresses), which went for 1,390,000 USD on Christie's in December 2020.

The oil painting "Folk Singers" depicts two country women wearing conical hats, holding fans, brown shirts and silk pants, walking barefoot in a rustic setting, surrounded by dominant earth tones.

This composition reflects Phan Chanh's focus on natural beauty rather than aesthetic novelty. The work offers viewers an insight into everyday life in early 20th-century Vietnam.

The work was previously known only through archives and exhibitions in Hanoi (1930) and Paris (1931). It was later acquired by a French couple, who passed it on to future generations. It was recently discovered at the home of their nephew in rural France.

Art researcher Ngo Kim Khoi assessed the auction results as he had initially predicted because the work had a clear origin. One of the noteworthy details in the painting is the material aspect.

"People are still familiar with Nguyen Phan Chanh's silk works, but this is an oil painting, the style is still large, simple color blocks, with very few details, often seen in his silk paintings," Mr. Khoi added.

Meanwhile, curator Ace Le - managing director of Sotheby's Vietnam market, assessed the work as the most important painting ever released to the market by Nguyen Phan Chanh. The painting was completed in 1930 - the peak period of the famous artist's creativity.

Initially, the painting was only known through archives and some exhibitions in Hanoi in 1930 and Paris in 1931. Later, a doctor couple in France bought the collection and passed it on to the next generations. Recently, the painting was discovered at the house of their nephew in the French countryside. Mr. Ace Le hopes that this masterpiece will be repatriated to his homeland after nearly a century in a foreign land.

Nguyen Phan Chanh was born in 1892 in Ha Tinh. He is a representative painter of Indochina painting and a pioneer of Vietnamese silk painting. The famous artist started painting at the age of 33 when he became a student of the first class of the Indochina College of Fine Arts. In 1929, he had his work displayed at the Colonial Art Exhibition (Salon de l'art colonial) in Paris, marking an important milestone in his career.

Deeply inspired by the countryside of his childhood, Nguyen Phan Chanh always maintains a close connection with the villagers by painting familiar scenes with an intimate perspective, making him praised as a chronicler of traditional life.

Nguyen Phan Chanh left behind over 170 works. He is the record holder for the number of paintings displayed at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum. Some of his other famous paintings include: Washing vegetables at the pond bridge, Baby feeding birds, Playing checkers, Bowl of water for a break…

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/buc-tranh-son-dau-nguoi-hat-dan-ca-co-gi-dac-biet-275093.html