The work of French artist Jean-Louis Paguenaud (1876-1952) attracted attention at the exhibition Dreams of the Far East, which opened on the afternoon of August 14. The painting, measuring 513 cm long and 212 cm wide, is the largest work by an Indochina-era artist ever displayed.
"Ha Long Bay" (oil on canvas, 1934) by Jean-Louis Paguenaud is the highlight of the exhibition "Dreams of the Far East"
Looking at the painting at the exhibition, researcher Ngo Kim Khoi - specializing in Indochina fine arts - assessed the work as an interesting masterpiece with a vibrant color scheme, expressing the feelings of a European artist visiting a tropical country for the first time. The painting represents the exoticism style - referring to artistic inspiration drawn from strange, new lands.
Mr. Ace Le - the event's curator - said that displaying this painting was a big challenge for Sotheby's, the exhibition organizer. The painting belongs to a private collection of a person in Hanoi, and has experienced sagging and deterioration due to the weather. When borrowing the painting, experts only had 12 days to transport and restore it to its best condition before introducing it to the public.
The process of taking down and wrapping the painting took four days because the work weighed 160 kg. The team mobilized a group of 15 art-handling experts to move the items and set up scaffolding. When it came to transporting the painting to Ho Chi Minh City, because the collector's home was located in an alley, the team had to calculate how to bring the painting to the main road with the least amount of vibration, then wrap it in bubble wrap and transport it by container truck for three days to the South.
The final step - restoration and stretching the canvas - is the most difficult, due to the lack of experts in the country. Hien Nguyen - who has studied restoration and practiced in France for 17 years - researched and implemented it with a team of 20 people. According to Ace Le, Jean-Louis Paguenaud has excellent drawing skills, the surface of the painting is still 90% good, the team only took two and a half days to restore the small scratches. They also calculated to install a wall strong enough to hang the painting for four days at the exhibition location.
"Ba Vi Range seen from Son Tay fields", painted by Joseph Inguimerty (1896-1971) in 1932-1933
The second room displays works by "naval painters" who came to Vietnam in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, laying the foundation for Indochina fine arts later on. The third room is paintings by "traveling painters" - those who came to Vietnam on scholarships and family emigration, showing the artistic journey of Western painting.
The organizers borrowed 56 works from 25 Vietnamese collectors living in and outside the country. Compared to the "Hon Xua Ben La" exhibition that Sotheby's opened in Ho Chi Minh City in 2022 about four famous Vietnamese painters, the paintings in this exhibition are easier to verify their origins, because most of the French painters still have relatives living there. The series of paintings is introduced for non-commercial purposes, mainly focusing on cultural and historical values so that Vietnamese audiences have the opportunity to learn and access them.
"Upstream of Tau Hu Canal" by Adolt Obst (1869-1945)
Sotheby's is one of the world's largest art and antique auction houses, with a presence in 40 countries and territories. In 2021, Sotheby's revenue was 5 billion USD in the art sector alone. Ace Le is an independent art researcher and curator. He is currently an advisor to the Vietnam Art Archive (ViAA), a member of the Australia Council for the Arts' International Arts Leadership Program 2022. He graduated with a master's degree in Museum Studies and Curatorial Practice from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
According to VnExpress
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