A European forerunner in the market for artists from Asia, Aguttes organized a new session of Asian Week from September 18 to 27, 2023, which totaled 4.55 million euros. The ‘Asian Painters’ sale featured painter Mai Trung Thứ, while the ‘Asian Arts’ session showed strong interest in high-quality classical Chinese pieces and signed Japanese art.
ASIAN PAINTERS, MAJOR WORKS
Tuesday September 26, 2023
On September 26, 2023, Aguttes, the historic market leader for Asian artists, once again championed the work of students from the School of Fine Arts in Indochina at its 39th sale dedicated to Asian Painters.
Top 5
Lot 8 – MAI TRUNG THU (1906-1980), La ronde des enfants, 1965 – 590 560 €
Lot 11 – MAI TRUNG THU (1906-1980), Enfants jouant dans la campagne, 1971 – 560 020 €
Lot 10 – PHAM HAU (1903-1995), Les rapides de Cho-Bo – 488 480 €
Lot 16 – MAI TRUNG THU (1906-1980), Enfants grimpant à un arbre, 1970 – 309 840 €
Lot 23 – MAI TRUNG THU (1906-1980), Le coup de vent, 1978 – 188 500 €
A total of 2.5 million euros for Mai Trung Thứ silks (1909-1980)
Mai Trung Thứ’s ink and color on silks totaled 2.5 million euros. Always strongly committed to peace and independence of Việt Nam, Mai Trung Thứ collaborated with Unicef and painted numerous scenes of children’s games, in order to raise awareness among Western audiences and raise funds until 1965. La ronde des enfants, which sold for 590 560 €, fits perfectly into this context.
MAI TRUNG THỨ (1906-1980)
La ronde des enfants, 1965
Ink and colors on silk, signed and dated lower left, 82.3 × 93.3 cm
A certificate of inclusion in the artist’s catalog raisonné currently being prepared by Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier
for the Association des Artistes d’Asie à Paris will be given to the buyer.
PROVENANCE
Private collection, South of France (acquired in 1970 from Galerie de Cannes) Then by descent, South of France
EXHIBITION
1970, March 20-April 11, Galerie de Cannes, Mai-Thu Paintings on silk
Sold 590 560 €
Children play in a colorful, joyful atmosphere, as if frozen in time. The innocence of these characters and their joie de vivre come to life under the talented brush of the silk painter, thanks to a confident line and the use of a lively, shimmering palette. Two of Mai Trung Thứ’s favorite subjects make up this work: children and music, giving vitality to the painting and linking it to his Vietnamese roots.
Another fine auction focused on childhood: 560 020 € for Enfants jouant dans la campagne! While Pieter Brueghel the Elder made his mark in the 16th century with his famous painting Les Jeux d’enfants, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, five centuries later Mai Trung Thứ immortalized his vision of children at play. While the ancient master strove to create a realistic vision of the peasant world, the Vietnamese artist created an idealized representation of the world of childhood.
MAI TRUNG THỨ (1906-1980)
Enfants jouant dans la campagne, 1971
Ink and colors on silk, signed and dated lower left. In original frame by the artist 66.5 × 94 cm – 26 1/8 × 37 in.
A certificate of inclusion in the artist’s catalog raisonné currently being prepared by Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier
for the Association des Artistes d’Asie à Paris will be given to the purchaser.
PROVENANCE
Galerie Apesteguy, Deauville Private collection (acquired from previous owner before 1980) Private collection, South-East France (gift from previous owner in 1998)
Sold 560 020 €
The artistic revival of lacquerware celebrated through Phạm Hậu (1903-1995)
Sold at 488 480 €, Phạm Hậu’s lacquer work entitled Les rapides de Cho-Bo takes up a subject dear to the artist’s heart. Inspired by the beauty of his country’s landscapes, he pays homage to its luxuriant vegetation, a reminder of its natural wealth. The master lacquerer has embellished the traditional lacquer technique with pillared mother-of-pearl and a rare ultramarine green. Gold highlights evoke the sun shimmering on the rocks, while silver highlights underline the foam of the waves.
PHAM HAU (1903-1995)
Les rapides de Cho-Bo
Lacquer, gold, silver and mother-of-pearl highlights, signed lower right, 99.8 × 199.4 cm
PROVENANCE
Important collection of a European who lived in Indochina around 1940
Private collection (brought back from Indochina and passed on by descent)
RELATED WORKS
Phạm Gia Yên, Sơn mài Phạm Hậu, The lacquer art of Pham Hau, Fine Arts Publishing House, 2019, p. 44
Aguttes sale, June 7, 2021, lot 1
Aguttes sale, November 29, 2021, lot 16
Sold 488 480 €
A key artist and craftsman of 20th-century Vietnam, Phạm Hậu contributed to the recognition of lacquerware as a true art in its own right, whereas it had long been restricted to handicrafts. A true ambassador of Vietnamese art, the artist notably participated in the revival of lacquer within the Indochina School of Fine Arts, and was behind the country’s first university of applied art, the National School of Handicrafts. Mainly inspired by depictions of landscapes and forests, but also of animals, his lacquers are collected by European and Vietnamese enthusiasts alike.
Still life by Lê Phổ (1907-2001)
Another signature eagerly awaited by connoisseurs is that of Lê Phổ, an artist from the first graduating class of the Indochina School of Fine Arts, alongside Mai Trung Thứ. Entrusted to Aguttes by a member of the painter’s family and appraised at 178 100 €, this work by Lê Phổ, Les chrysanthèmes chevelues, testifies to the artist’s talent and appetite for still life.
LÊ PHỔ (1907-2001)
Les chrysanthèmes chevelues (medicine jar)
Oil, ink and gouache on silk, signed lower left, titled on back, 66 × 39.5 cm
A certificate of inclusion in the artist’s catalog raisonné currently being prepared by Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier
for the Association des Artistes d’Asie à Paris will be given to the buyer.
PROVENANCE
Galerie Romanet, Paris (under the title Dahlias au pot de pharmacie)
Madame Picciotto Collection, Geneva, Switzerland Binoche, Drouot, Paris, June 9, 1997 Mr. and Mrs. T. Collection, Paris (acquired at previous sale)
Sold 178 100 €
A timeless exercise, the still life has always been a favorite of artists. Gathering different varieties of flowers, fruit or vegetables, they allow the artist to express his singularity.
It is interesting to note the presence of the vase in the catalog, a medicine pot, known as an Albarello, depicted in this painting, offered by the painter to the previous owner. It was sold a few minutes later to the collector who had just acquired the painting.
Many of the works sold at this 39th auction are now in important Asian private collections. [The latter, particularly attached to the work of artists associated with the Indochina School of Fine Arts, have demonstrated their confidence in the quality of the lots on offer by the strength of their bids].
Find all the results on Asian Painters: https://www.aguttes.com/catalogue/141202?offset=0&
ASIAN ARTS
Wednesday September 27, 2023
Top 3
Lot 87 – CHINA REPUBLIC PERIOD (1912 – 1949) – Screen – 49 400 €
Lot 94 – CHINA QING DYNASTY, 19th CENTURY, Large blue-white porcelain jar – 20 800 €
Lot 57 – CHINA QING DYNASTY, 19th CENTURY, Rare and important pair of celadon nephrite jade covered vases – 19 110 €
Among the highlights of this sale dedicated to Asian Arts was a breathless bidding battle for a four-leaf natural wood screen, embellished with twelve rectangular porcelain plates in pink range enamels. Sold for up to 49 400 €, this piece is decorated with twelve animals from the Chinese zodiac and figures, each scene set in a different landscape.
CHINA REPUBLIC PERIOD (1912 – 1949)
Four-leaf screen in natural wood, embellished with twelve rectangular porcelain plaques in famille rose enamels,
depicting each of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac with figures, each scene set in a different landscape. H. 165 cm – L. 170 cm
Sold 49 400 €
Another memorable auction, this time up to 20 800 €! A large blue-white porcelain jar caught the eye of connoisseurs. Its slightly domed body is painted with a large composition of figures in a lakeside landscape.
CHINA QING DYNASTY, 19th CENTURY
Large blue-white porcelain jar decorated with a lacustrine landscape,
the slightly domed body painted with a large composition featuring figures in a lacustrine landscape.
Metal-rimmed lip. With its natural wood base. H. 41.5 cm
Sold 20 800 €
The most important gem of Chinese civilization, jade is the link between the celestial and terrestrial worlds, both a ritual medium and a symbol of power and prestige. A pair of covered vases in celadon nephrite jade, which fetched 18,500 €, feature figures in relief on the base: three Mandarin ducks frolic among lotuses and millet stalks. The body reveals a network of intertwined floral scrolls, at the center of which sit figures of bodhisattvas, seated on clouds, adorned with floating jewels and ribbons, their hands executing various mudras or holding various attributes.
CHINA QING DYNASTY, 19th CENTURY
Rare and important pair of celadon nephrite jade covered vases,
of elongated form flaring to the shoulder,
the foot in imitation of a quadripod base decorated with foliage and ruyi heads.
H. tot. 24 cm
Sold 19 110 €
Find all Asian Arts results: https://www.aguttes.com/catalogue/141204-arts-dasie
L’art moderne en Indochine. L’École des beaux-arts de Indochine, to be published on November 8, 2023 by In fine éditions d’art
« Building and consolidating a market also means documenting it. In parallel with her 39th ” Asian Painters ” sale, Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier is working on [this] book…»
Clémentine Pomeau-Peyre, « Emerging from Asia », Challenges, 31 août 2023, N° 795
On the eve of the centenary of the creation of the Indochina School of Fine Arts in Hanoi, this book lifts the veil cast over seventy years ago on a complete section of international art history. From Inguimberty to Alix Aymé, from Nguyễn Phan Chánh to Vũ Cao Đàm, via Mai Trung Thứ and Lê Phổ, teachers or students, they drew, painted, sculpted, worked in lacquer, exhibited… Directed by Victor Tardieu and then Évariste Jonchère, the school experienced a period of rich artistic emulation between 1925 and 1945, and was at the origin of the revival of of modern Vietnamese art.
Drawing on ten years of research and expertise, Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier retraces the careers of the key players of this period in this abundantly illustrated and documented volume.
Author: Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, Associate Director, in charge of the Classical Arts division, Asian Painters department, at AGUTTES Auction House.
Price incl. VAT : 75 €
Description
Binding : Laminated board
Pages : 432
Illustrations : 250
Format : 22×32 cm
Languages: Trilingual French-English-Vietnamese
EAN/ISBN : 9782382031315
Published by In Fine éditions d’art
Upcoming sales in preparation
Contemporary Art, November 22, 2023
Asian Painters, Major Works [40], November 30, 2023
Asian Arts, December 14, 2023
An unpublished work by Zao Wou-Ki at auction
Contemporary Art [Asian], November 22, 2023 in Neuilly-sur-Seine
ZAO Wou-Ki (1921 – 2013)
Untitled, 2000
Ink on rice paper, signed and dated lower right
101×106 cm (rice paper)
111×117 cm (whole sheet)
PROVENANCE
Gift from the artist to the current owner
Private collection, Neuilly-sur-Seine
Estimate : 300 000 / 500 000 €
« I wanted to paint that which cannot be seen, the breath of life, the wind, movement, the life of forms, the blossoming of colors and their fusion. »—Zao Wou-Ki
On November 22, 2023, Aguttes will be auctioning a previously unpublished work by Zao Wou-Ki. The artist himself offered this ink to its current owner, who has kept it to this day. In addition to its original aspect, this abstract work has a number of assets, not least of which is its very large size for an ink. Collectors seek out these formats by Zao Wou-Ki. Zao Wou-Ki’s work, which provoked a number of major upswings, is now enjoying a degree of stability, contributing to the popularity of Asian artists on the European and Asian markets. He is ranked 23rd on Artprice and is expected to sell for 82 million euros in 2022. Major museums, such as the MAM Paris, hold his works.This large-scale abstract ink dates from the 2000s, and is a mature work by Zao Wou-Ki. A quintessential example of the artist’s research into radical aesthetics! Highly sought-after, the painter’s late works bear witness to an assertive style.
Halfway between East and West, the naturalized French Chinese artist was quick to reconcile the tradition of his homeland with the radicalism he discovered among the artists of the Paris New School. A perfect example of the indisputable popularity of contemporary Asian artists, Zao Wou-Ki quickly established himself as one of the biggest names in contemporary art, as well as one of the most spectacular sellers on the secondary market.
Asian Painters, Major Works [40], November 30, 2023
Lê Phổ (1907-2001)
La lettre
Oil on canvas signed lower left, titled on back
74×92 cm
Estimate: 60 000 / 100 000 €
Provenance
Wally Findlay Galleries, New-York
Private collection
Christies sale, 1998, Singapore
Private collection, Singapore (acquired at 1998 sale)
Asian Arts, December 14, 2023
CHINA MING DYNASTY, WANLI MARK AND PERIOD (1575-1620)
Rare and important double-gourd porcelain bracket vase decorated
with wucai enamels, featuring phoenixes flying among clouds
and roosters among flowers and rocks.
H. 30.9 cm
Provenance: Victor Segalen Collection, then by descent
Estimate: 40 000 / 60 000 €
ASIAN CONTEMPORARY ART
Head of departement
Ophélie Guillerot
+33 1 47 45 93 02 – guillerot@aguttes.com
ASIAN PAINTERS, MAJOR WORKS
Head of departement
Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier
+33 1 41 92 06 49 – reynier@aguttes.com
ASIAN ARTS
Head of departement
Clémentine Guyot
+33 1 47 45 91 54 – guyot@aguttes.com
Source: Aguttes
