“HẠ LONG WATERFRONT”, MỘT TÁC PHẨM CỦA HỌA SĨ TRẦN BÌNH LỘC (1914-1941)

Trần Bình Lộc, a talented painter, but his youth ended early. He studied in class 5 (1929-1934) of Indochina Fine Arts College with Nguyễn Đỗ Cung; went to Cambodia to teach with painter Nguyễn Văn Quế (in 1941) and died in Phnom Penh due to a rare accident caused by fire. This unfortunate incident caused Vietnamese fine arts to lose a talented artist. Due to his early death, Trần Bình Lộc’s works are few and therefore rare and valuable.

The work “Hạ Long waterfront”, gouache, 1941, belongs to the collection of Mr. Nguyễn Văn Lâm, left for his descendants. In a private document kept by Mr. Nguyễn Văn Lâm’s family, the painting was purchased from Đức Minh Collection (after Mr. Đức Minh passed away in 1983) along with a number of other paintings such as “Coconut tree” by Bùi Xuân Phái; “Climbing the fat column” by Văn Cao. The painting depicts a realistic scene, boats resting at the waterfront with tightly rolled sails. In the distance are undulating mountain ranges on the sea – a characteristic of Hạ Long mountains and sea. It seems that Trần Bình Lộc loved to paint large landscapes, with a wide view as if looking down from above with themes related to boats, landscapes on the waterfront including architecture, activities on the boats of fishing families. Some opinions say that the gouache material is often used when creating direct paintings (when painting outdoors) or using sketches, so the color is sometimes “less valuable” than other materials such as lacquer, oil, silk. But in fact, gouache is very popular and favored because of its convenience. A work is valuable because of the brushwork and the shape on the surface. In addition, the history, rarity of the work and the name of the artist contribute to the added value of the painting. The painting “Hạ Long waterfront” created in 1941 is probably one of Trần Bình Lộc’s last works before his sudden passing. And it has been a long time since we have seen his work on auction block.

TRẦN BÌNH LỘC (1914-1941)
“Hạ Long waterfront”, 1941
Gouache on paper
Signed and dated in the lower right corner
34 × 48,8 cm