Accordingly, the “20th Century Vietnamese Art” Auction will be the first auction of Le Auction House in the year of Giap Thin 2024. The auction brings together more than 200 carefully selected works from many periods from important artists, covering a unique period of modern Vietnamese Fine Arts.
Chronologically, from the time the French set foot on Indochina and created the premise for many artists to record and create, to the birth of the School of Fine Arts L'ecole des Beaux Arts de l'Indochine, the upheavals of the times gave rise to the Resistance Class of artists, and up to today when peace was restored, the artistic life welcomed many talents who enthusiastically contributed their creativity.
Specifically, starting from the end of the 19th century, the French expedition to the East opened the way for the travels of artists, explorers, photographers, and writers with the aim of spreading information about the colonies.
Artwork: Woman, artist Alix Ayme
As for the artists, they came to Vietnam not only to explore the colonial culture and civilization to spread it in France, but also to leave important contributions in teaching art to the Annamese people. Among them, we can mention the names of famous artists such as Victor Tardieu, Joseph Inguimberty, Alix Aymé, André Maire or Evariste Jonchère,...
At the auction, works by French artists such as Victor Tardieu, Alix Aymé, André Maire, Jules Galand, Maurice Menardeau,... were also selected and introduced to the art-loving community by Le Auction House.
The Scarf Girl, artist Mai Trung Thu
Among them, Victor Tardieu was the person that the famous painter Tran Van Can later mentioned that without his personal role, Vietnamese painting would have followed a different path. In 1924, with Victor Tardieu's submission to Governor General Martial Merlin about the urgent need to open an art school in Hanoi, the Indochina College of Fine Arts (L'école des Beaux Arts de l'Indochine) was officially established and began enrolling the first class in 1925.
The establishment of the school pushed the Vietnamese visual arts out of the period of anonymity and trained generations of professional artists. For the first time, they were no longer “painters”, “masons”, “drawers”, they were painters, sculptors, and artists. From here, a series of important generations of Vietnamese fine arts in the 20th century were recognized.
Also at the auction of "20th Century Vietnamese Art" will be the appearance of three especially important quartets who studied at the school and had pivotal contributions, shaping the country's fine arts associated with national character such as: Pho - Thu - Luu - Dam, Tri - Lan - Van - Can, Nghiem - Lien - Sang - Phai.
Work: Young girl next to peach blossom tree, artist Le Pho
Pho - Thu - Luu - Dam includes: Le Pho, Mai Trung Thu, Le Thi Luu, Vu Cao Dam are four students who inherited the education of the Indochina Fine Arts School and immigrated to France and created the glorious quartet of Vietnamese painting in Europe. These are all names that have created for themselves not only their own mark in art but also in the excitement of the public trading market both domestically and internationally in recent years.
Artwork: Lily, artist Le Pho
Work: Mother and Child, artist Vu Cao Dam
The auction's catalogue includes important themes such as Le Pho's Young Girl with Flowers, Mai Trung Thu's Innocent Children, Young Girl, Le Thi Luu's Portrait of a Girl with Motherly Love, and an excerpt from Vu Cao Dam's "The Tale of Kieu."
Along with that, Tri - Lan - Van - Can are four great artists who have made many typical contributions in each important step of the country's fine arts. Nguyen Gia Tri, with the desire to serve lacquer, together with a number of other artists, developed this native material to its peak (1938 - 1944), pioneering the elevation of lacquer from a material for producing handicrafts to a creative material with high artistic value.
Next, Nguyen Tuong Lan was an artist who was able to put pure colors into his paintings while still maintaining a beautiful, elegant and refined overall look. To Ngoc Van and Tran Van Can were talented oil painters, who held the position of principal of the Vietnam Fine Arts University and were dedicated to building a Vietnamese painting with national character in the spirit of still absorbing the beauty of Western painting.
The next special quartet of artists are Nghiem - Lien - Sang - Phai. Each person has their own direction and has made significant contributions to building the Vietnamese art landscape in the second half of the 20th century.
Among them is a Nguyen Tu Nghiem who is absorbed in "searching for the nation and seeing in the nation humanity and modernity", a Duong Bich Lien who is sensitive and wandering with portraits of young women, a Nguyen Sang who is passionately dedicating works full of spirit about revolution and nation building, and a Bui Xuan Phai who has hidden the nostalgic memories of many people in the colors and drawings of Hanoi streets.
After the Indochina College of Fine Arts in Hanoi closed in 1945 due to the Japanese coup against the French, a course called the Resistance Course was established and led by principal To Ngoc Van.
The Resistance Fine Arts School recruited a total of two batches in January 1950 and August 1950. Including special cases, this class had 22 students, including four who later formed the outstanding quartet that matured from the Resistance Class: Luu Cong Nhan, Le Huy Hoa, Tran Luu Hau, and Nguyen Trong Kiem.
In the auction, paintings of landscapes and young women from this quartet, along with some other faces of the Resistance Course such as Mai Long, Linh Chi, Tran Dong Luong, etc., are also listed in the catalog. They are many distinct personalities who all matured from the Resistance Course and devoted themselves to the development of modern fine arts in our country.
Artwork: Orchid by artist Nguyen Nhu Huan - pen name Thai Ha.
In addition, works by other talented artists who studied at the Indochina College of Fine Arts such as Nguyen Van Ty, Ton That Dao, Do Dinh Hiep, Pham Van Don, Tran Van Tho, Tran Duy, Jean Vo Lang, Nguyen Nhu Huan, were also introduced by the auction house in the auction.
Portrait, artist Dang Xuan Hoa
In particular, the 20th Century Vietnamese Art auction also features works by sculptor Diem Phung Thi, painters Le Ba Dang, Le Van Xuong, Nguyen Huyen, Tu Duyen, Nguyen Quang Mau, Tran Ha, Dinh Minh, Pham Dang Tri, and some works by contemporary artists emerging after the Doi Moi period such as Dang Xuan Hoa, Pham An Hai, Bui Huu Hung and many other prominent artists.
Holding many advantages in many aspects when organizing auctions with a rich source of works, Le Auction House selects works with reasonable price estimates, and also organizes exhibitions to facilitate collectors to view the paintings directly.
With the desire to contribute another exciting event to the Vietnamese art market, Le Auction House aims to transparently disclose information about the works before the auction, thereby creating a more prestigious platform, quality origin, ensuring the interests of collectors, sponsors and art lovers.
Information about the auction "20th Century Vietnamese Art":
Time: 2:00 p.m. Sunday, March 10, 2024.
Address: Aqua Central No. 44 Yen Phu, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.
Auction registration: [email protected]
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